Twisted Love by Ana Huang

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Getting back to planned tbr, I needed to finally get to Twisted Love by Ana Huang. This is the first in her Twisted series. The second book, Twisted Games, just came out last month and is the pick for the Ravished by Romance book club this month. I have both in paperback and thought this was a good excuse to finally read them! Update: I applied this to the prompt of cover buy for tbr for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Ava lives next door to her brother and they are super close. He is going to medical school and joined a volunteer program to go to Central America for a year to provide medical assistance. He is overly worried about Ava and asks his best friend Alex to live in his house and look over Ava. She is finishing her degree, but really wants to be a photographer. While she's not necessarily a trouble magnet like Alex and her brother Josh make her out to be, she is a very optimistic and sunshiney person that strives to see the best in those around her.

I was really intrigued by this book and ended up buying it when it released earlier this year. I usually don't buy paperbacks before I read a book (outside of historicals), but the author was posting quotes and excerpts on her instagram and I was super intrigued. Also, since she is an Asian and indie author, I wanted to show my support. This is 100% a I don't like anyone but you (and her brother). I really enjoyed Alex and Ava and how drawn they were to each other. The steam was okay, except for one thing that I'll talk about later, and I enjoyed how they both pushed each other towards more of a gray and middle viewpoint of the world. This is a great grumpy-sunshine trope, so if you are into that certainly check it out.

I have this marked as dark romance, and while I didn't necessary feel dark to me, I can see how it would be to others. If you are interested in trying dark romance but don't want to go too deep, this would be a good option. Alex also has a little bit of mafia vibes, but he's not mafia. Just a very powerful, genius, CEO. Now there were a couple things I didn't enjoy. One was part of his kink. It's known that he's very specific in intimate relations with others, from behind, no face-to-face, no kissing and he like's choking and "dirty talk." While the kinks are fan, I did not like the dirty talk portion. It was really dirty talk so much as him calling her whore. That is not my kink, so it did bother me, but Ava was into it. What I didn't like about it was that it was made clear the first time they sleep together that Ava is different. He flips her over and kisses her as they finish. I just wish that there was an intimate scene between them where he didn't call her that. I just wish he changed it up or there was one scene were it was more soft and slow between them. It doesn't need to be the same every single time, especially since it was more of the connection between them at that point.

The other part I didn't enjoy was the end and how long they were separated. I understood Ava stepping back after Alex hurt her, but I feel like she should've also realized why he said the things he did earlier. I didn't like that they spent a year plus apart, although some of it was strictly in a friendly platonic way. While I liked her kind of becoming her own person and stepping up for herself, it felt a little drawn out. I just wanted more for the reconciliation and for Ava to also realize and come to terms with why he said the things he did. My heart broken for Alex and his struggle with feeling not good enough for Ava.

I really enjoyed Twisted Love and am intrigued by the future books in the series. I'm guessing that we'll get books for her three friends and know that book two is about Bridget, the princess, and her new bodyguard. We also see that Jules and her brother Josh don't get along in this book, which kind of leads up to the announcement that they are book 3. I'm a little disappointed though because I would like for Josh to be paired up with Stella. That would be more of opposites attract and appeals to me more at this point. That could change after I read Twisted Games though. We'll see.

Have you read Twisted Love?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Twisted Love, Ana Huang, 4-stars, 1 day, paperback, 358 pages, published in 2021

Alien Tongues by Chloe Parker

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Needing a little bit of a change of place, I decided to pick up a sci-fi/alien romance. I recently added quite a few to my tbr and decided to go with Alien Tongues by Chloe Parker. This is the first book in her Cosmic Bonds series. Also, I absolutely adore this cover, the colors are just so pretty. I was looking at it on Amazon and thought I might buy the paperback copy, but the cover is completely different so I didn't end up buying it. It has a blonde human girl on it, totally not the same vibe. Update: I applied this to the prompt of new to you author for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

We meet Natalie, a linguist from Earth. Shortly after she was born the Lyrans contacted Earth. Of course we all thought that they were here to attack, but they were actually making contact after finding the golden disc that was put on a satellite. The Lyran culture doesn't really understand or have music or entertainment, so they wanted to contact Earth. While we are primitive in almost every way to them, our brains allow for creativity that the Lyrans don't have. Natalie grew up and became a linguist after loving languages, especially Lyran. She is on Logos to study an artifact that they are unable to translate. She gets attacked one night on the way home and ends up with guardsman Kiran guarding her.

This was such a good book. I really enjoyed the different takes on an alien romance and it was super fun that our heroine was a linguist. I loved the beginning and how it branched from real events that happened and how it evolved from that point. I loved Kiran and Natalie and really enjoyed the tension and eventual steam between them. I also loved their little movie night where they watched Kiss Me, Kate. It really made me want to rewatch it, especially since I've been in the mood for older musicals lately.

There are just a couple things that really brought this down from being a 5-star. First, I wish that there was more explored with the mate bond between them. They both dream about each other and feel the bond, but it isn't really discussed between them or Kiran with other Lyrans. While I understood that their way of ensuring the continuation of their race was completely clinical and actual intimate relations are heavily looked down upon, I wish that there was more done. The other big sticking point for me was how it ended. It didn't feel wrapped up. While there was a little set up for the next book, I didn't feel like we were at a good stopping point for Kiran and Nat. I wish there was more between them after meeting Mai (the heroine of Alien Liaisons). 

Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was just those two things that really left me wanting more. I'm definitely going to be picking up the next book in the series. I did want to mention, at the end of the book it mentions Alien Liaisons will be released in October of 2021. It actually came out earlier in July and the third book, Alien Pleasures, is set to come out in October. I'm definitely intrigued to read more and am happy to find another fun sci-fi series!

Have you read Alien Tongues?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Alien Tongues, Chloe Parker, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 261 pages, published in 2021

Hot Water by Fern Fraser

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Wanting a novella that hit the spot a little more than Rocky Waters, I checked out book three in the Lovers Lake series. Each book is written by different authors and I was intrigued by Hot Water. Update: I applied this to the prompt of set in summer for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Ethan is a vet that has returned to his grandparents run down hotel. He's working on restoring it to reopen. A good friend of him is willing to invest if he hires his younger sister Lexi to do the management portion. They knew each other growing up, but there is a significant age gap paired with Lexi and her family being very affluent. They are instantly attracted to each other, but stick with pining since they both don't want to deal with her brother's input as well as mess with their working relationship.

This was cute. I liked Ethan and really enjoyed him. He was a little bit moody, but such a great blue-collar hero that I could really see being able to hold down a full length novel. I also liked Lexi, but she was okay. She was a little stereotypical and bland for a heroine, but there wasn't anything I disliked about her. While this was closer to the 100 page count that I prefer for novellas, I still felt like there wasn't enough development between them for my taste. While I did think the small time jumps were perfect, especially for the circumstances, I felt like it was more insta-lust than insta-love.

The biggest detraction for me was how much was spent on couples from other of Fern Fraser's novellas and setting up future ones. While comparatively it isn't much time spent on them, I wish that since this was so short it was more of a quick mention and not much more. I like that she was trying to draw you to her other works, but it also felt like too much for this series specifically. I guess the balance just wasn't hit right. I have to say though that I really loved Ethan and his fellow vet that was helping out.

I enjoyed Fern's writing style and will probably try her again, especially if it's more full length. The steam and tension was decent and I'm certainly intrigued. She's jut not at the top of my list. I might read some of the remaining books in the series, but it'll probably save until next year. These are all summer based, but I am ready for fall. If I pick up any of these type of novellas moving forward, it'll most likely be autumn based.

Have you read Hot Water?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hot Water, Fern Fraser, 3-stars, 1 day, eBook, 77 pages, published in 2021

Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo Wrap Up

 It's over! I have officially finished the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo! In case you haven't seen, I have done a tbr and a mid-challenge wrap up. These are good to look at if you are still working on completing the challenge and want some recs/ideas. The Ripped Bodice is a romance only book store in California. What's fun about their challenge is they usually pick unique prompts that are sometimes hard to find (for me). It usually has me reading at least one book out of my comfort zone. If you are participating, don't forget to fill out the google form on their website! They are doing giveaways and you can enter for 4 bingos and then the blackout. Below is the blank board in case you haven't seen it yet.

Below is my completed board. I'll list out what book I read for which prompt starting at the top left corner and going row by row. Each link will take you to my review!

🦩 Defense Attorney: Overruled by Emma Chase

🦩 Educator: The Professor Next Door by Jackie Lau

🦩 Construction: Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

🦩 Friends to Lovers: The Wrong Marquess by Vivienne Lorret

🦩 Date Auction: Heavy Crown by Sophie Lark

🦩 Small Town: Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

🦩 Reality TV: Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe

🦩 Demigods: Ain't Myth-Behaving by Katie MacAlister

🦩 Karaoke: Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross

🦩 Fake Dating: The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham

🦩 Snowy Cover: Her Pretend Christmas Date by Jackie Lau

🦩 Gilded Age: The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe

🦩 Happily Ever After: A Bullet Between Us by K Dosal

🦩 Reporter: Off the Record by Chelle Sloan

🦩 Holiday Not Christmas: Zander's Firecracker by Ember Flint

🦩 Scientific Pursuit: The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham

🦩 Smells Like Bread: Deep, Deep Donuts by Megan Wade

🦩 Triplets: How to Seduce a Duke by Kathryn Caskie

🦩 Circus: Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

🦩 Graphic Novel: The Remarried Empress by Alphatart & Sumpul

🦩 Staple Romp: Broken Vow by Sophie Lark

🦩 Revenge Quest: Mercenary Princess by Setta Jay

🦩 Bodyguard: The Daring Twin by Donna Fletcher

🦩 Tattoos: Ruthless Creatures by JT Geissinger

🦩 Wardrobe Malfunction: 40-Love by Olivia Dade

I had a lot of fun again and was pushed outside my normal reading habits. It's also always fun to read and randomly come across a book that has a prompt. For example, I was struggling finding book that had a karaoke scene and was pleasantly surprised when I read Witches Get Stitches and it had one. That's always fun, but for little scenes like that it can be hard to find. In the past there's been goodreads lists, but I didn't see any this year (at least by mid-July). I haven't checked recently. I can't wait to see what they do next year!

Did you participate in the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Rocky Waters by C.M. Steele

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Wanting a quick novella late Friday night before bed and something summery, I decided to pick up the next book in the Lovers Lake series. This series have different novellas written by different authors. Book two is Rocky Waters by C.M. Steele. Update: I applied this to the prompt of black on cover for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Bennett is an author and returning to his cabin in a small mountain town in Colorado to seclude himself and finish his latest novel. Everyone in town knows that they need to stay away from the trails and natural areas by his house since he needs silence. Since his phone is off, he doesn't receive the messages from his friend that's a photographer. He has scheduled a shoot for romance novels at the lake by his cabin and wanted to give him a heads up. Bennett gets angry and stomps down to the lake. He gets one look at the female model Darcy and immediately lays claim. Darcy is actually a big fan of Bennett's books, and is more than happy to be "kidnapped."

This book had so many tropes going in that I was super into. We have a bookish heroine, author hero, she's a model for romance covers, he's a grumpy/broody alpha hero and she's a fan of his writing. This is also less than 30 pages long, and certainly needed to be longer. I didn't like that they were both virgins and their fist time was perfect. And that they went on a marathon. It was just too much. I wish that this book was longer to flesh things out a little more. 

I knew it was going to be a novella going in, but I didn't look at page count. That aside, the 2-stars is mainly for the writing style. It was so weird and felt more like telling than showing. It wasn't just telling though, but telling every little thing. This is isn't an exact quote, but it was things like the author's going to sit down to write. The author listed out every little thing like he gets dressed in comfy clothes, sits down and turns his computer on, checks his phone before turning off, pulls up his writing program and starts writing. I didn't need a second by second list of every little thing he was doing. It wasn't just once and happened for both of the main characters. I found myself quickly just skimming in between dialogue. I guess for that reason it's good this was super short.

I will try more of the books in this series, but I might look at page count and tropes before picking on up. I don't know if I'll pick up anything else from C.M. Steele, I just don't think her writing style is for me. Maybe after she's got more books under her belt I might try another novella and see if her style changes? Mostly likely not though, especially if they are just as short.

Have you read Rocky Waters?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Rocky Waters, C.M. Steele, 2-stars, 0 days, eBook, 24 pages, published in 2021

How to Engage an Earl by Kathryn Caskie

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After flowing through How to Seduce a Duke, I immediately picked up book two in Kathryn Caskie's Royle Sisters trilogy, How to Engage an Earl. I mentioned this is my previous review, but after doing some research into Kathryn's backlist I found she passed away in 2017. If you fall in love with her books like I have so far, I just wanted you to be aware. Also, this has a stepback as well, but it's a wrap-around. Check out the layout of the full cover! Such a fun way to do a stepback! Update: I applied this to the prompt of series to continue for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Here we focus on middle sister Anne. She has been tasked to sneak into the new Earl MacLean's bedchamber to search for some letters that would help prove their parentage. However, the empty bedchamber is occupied by Laird, the new earl. He scares her, she screams and all of the ball ends up outside his bedchamber door as he keeps her from falling. So begins their fake engagement, Anne using the time to search his estates for the hidden letters and Laird to help restore his reputation from his younger rakehell days.

I really enjoyed this book. I think I liked book one a little bit more, but I loved the connection between Laird and Anne. I felt like they connected quicker than Mary and Rogan, but they were also able to get away to his country seat for some forced proximity. I wasn't as into the mystery of their parentage here and it felt not quite as fleshed out. That didn't bother me though, since the point is the romance. I also enjoyed that Anne really wasn't fond of being the center of attention and was fairly shy, at least compared to her sisters.

One thing I do want to mention, is the meet cutes. The one where Mary pretends to be a statue in How to Seduce a Duke was so fun, and I loved this one too. Anne is known to be able to blend and seem invisible. She and Elizabeth goad each other into a challenge for her to steal glasses of punch from people as she weaves through the ballroom. Laird had been relaxing and hiding out against the wall and was surprised when Anne left standing by the wall, having been next to him the entire time. He then watches as she steals the glasses from people and winds his way to her. He plays up being distracted and draws her attention to steal his glass. Of course he was watching her the entire time and catches her when she tries for his glass. In the end she does steal it from him and it becomes a cute thing between them throughout the book. I just really loved the uniqueness and humor of both meet cutes.

I'm super excited to get to the last book in the series, How to Propose to a Prince. I'm super intrigued to learn more about Elizabeth and her psychic dreams. Also what her meet cute will be. I'm definitely going to continue going through Kathryn Caskie's backlist. I would've read this in one sitting as well outside of starting it so late at night. Such a fun and unique historical! I always love the ones that have mysteries, but it's not someone's death or dangerous in that way. So good!

Have you read How to Engage an Earl?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: How to Engage an Earl, Kathryn Caskie, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 352 pages, published in 2007

How to Propose to a Prince by Kathryn Caskie

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After quickly getting through the first two books in Kathryn Caskie's Royle Sisters trilogy, I immediately jumped into How to Propose to a Prince. This is the third and final book in the trilogy. I mentioned this in my previous reviews, but Kathryn is a new author for me and I am going to enjoy getting through her backlist. I did find out that she passed in 2017, so I wanted to mention it once again. Update: I applied this to the prompt of underrated author for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

The 3rd sister is Elizabeth, the youngest and red-headed of the trio. She has a dream that she will marry a prince. Her sister Anne jokes with her about it, only to run into him on the street. They follow him into a jewelry store to see if the physical description Elizabeth had from her dream matches, to find out that it does and he's rumored to be Prince Leopold. However, he's in town to woo Princess Charlotte and receive Prinny's blessing for the marriage. What Elizabeth doesn't know, the Prince that she met is actually his cousin and main guard, dressing as him due to some threats made against the Prince.

This was a really good end to the trilogy, but I didn't quite love it as much as the first two. First I'll talk about the things I didn't enjoy. I was really frustrated with Anne in this book and how she kept dismissing Elizabeth. We've seen once or twice in the previous books her have dreams that came true. Anne immediately doesn't believe Elizabeth and even starts to make fun of her for it. I did not like that one bit. Not only did I wish there was more of that mystical element, maybe she has more than the couple dreams in the beginning, but I didn't like how Anne discounted Elizabeth. They joke with her that her dreams only are half true usually, but everything we've been shown in the series has been 100% true. It's just been her interpretations about the circumstances that are slightly off. I also didn't like how the old rakes that are were taking care of the triplets kind of ignored her as well. I wasn't ever quite sure who they were trying to pair her with here, but I wasn't a fan of how they treated her in this book. It just felt so different from the first two.

Another thing I want to mention is I wish that Sumner came clean earlier about who he really was. Elizabeth really tried to be trusting and believing in him, but I would've like the reveal to happen just a little bit earlier. I loved their connection though and how drawn to each other. I didn't quite enjoy the meet cute as much this time around, but it was pretty cute. Just didn't grab me like the other two. I did enjoy how when Elizabeth wasn't around those that were disparaging her, I really loved her character. It's just hard to always connect when she's constantly having to defend herself and push for what she believes. Also, I wasn't a fan of how the mystery of their parentage wrapped up. I didn't like the announcement that the old rakes made. The girls had all agreed that it didn't matter about their past, but their future and how they were all able to find love. I also loved the epilogue and had a guess that that was what was happening with Aunt Prudence. I just wish the old rakes hadn't made that weird and obviously false announcement. The sisters could've been happy and not want to actively look for evidence of their birth without it actually being ended. I also wasn't a huge fan of Princess Charlotte, but she did manipulate the situation for some forced proximity for Sumner and Elizabeth.

I didn't really talk about it too much since there were a lot of little things that bothered me, but I really did enjoy this book overall. Sumner was such a swoony gentleman and I loved the connection between them. There were so many moments when they were drawn to each other without knowing. I also loved that when they came back to town he kept finding ways to secretly "blow" her kisses. So swoony.

I really enjoyed the trilogy and I can't wait to read more from Kathryn Caskie. I have already ordered most of her other series and hopefully they come sometime soon. I'm glad I'm back in the historical romance mood, especially since I have a couple more to read this month for book clubs. I always love finding new authors, and if you are into historical romances from the 2000s I highly recommend you check these books out!

Have you read How to Propose to a Prince?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: How to Propose to a Prince, Kathryn Caskie, 4-stars, 0 days, paperback, 368 pages, published in 2008

How to Seduce a Duke by Kathryn Caskie

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With only two prompts left to fill on my Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo, I decided to pick up another one of those. I chose to go with the triplets prompt and was debating between a couple options. Despite being in a contemporary mood lately, I decided I wanted a historical romance. I have a couple of those to read later this month for book clubs, so I wanted to see if I could get myself back in the mood. All said and done, I picked up How to Seduce a Duke by Kathryn Caskie. This is the first book in her Royle Sisters trilogy, based around triplet sisters. Update: I applied this to the prompt of favoritre trope for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

We meet Mary, the eldest of the three Royle triplets. She has had her eye on Viscount Wetherly after passing each other in Hyde Park every Tuesday. She finds out he'll be at a rout next door. She want to show him to her sisters Anne and Elizabeth since she believes they're going to be married. Disguised as statues, they sneak into the neighbor's gardens. Unfortunately, Mary gets found out by the Viscount's older brother Rogan, the Duke of Blackstone. Rogan is very much against marriage and wants to keep both himself and his brother from marrying someone attracted to their fortunes after watching the heartbreak of his father during his second marriage. He believes Mary is a regency era gold-digger and goes about trying to keep her from connecting with his brother.

I absolutely adored this book. First off, it's my favorite trope, wrong sibling. This is also my favorite version of the trope, where the woman thinks she's in love with a brother and the elder brother steps in because he thinks she's not the right person for him. I enjoyed the humor a lot as well. I do have to say, this is not a perfect book and I can see a lot of youtubers and bookstagrammers I follow only giving this a 3 or 4-stars, but I just really adored this. It gave me all the feels but also had some unique parts. The sister grew up knowing that their father wasn't their birth father. However, they come to find out now that they've reached their majority that they might be the daughters of the catholic wife to the Prince Regeant. They are trying to collect the evidence to figure out if the story is true. Now, I understand what the author was trying to do with naming the triplets Mary, Anne and Elizabeth with brown, blonde and red hair. It just felt a little odd. I know that fraternal twins/triplets is a thing, but for all three to have completely different hair colors seemed odd.

I also loved how they were so connected, but they were each so unique and you could really grasp each sister's personality. It also got a little weird with the plot near the end because there were so many twists. Also we find out in the last 50ish pages that Elizabeth has dreams that tell the future. Weird that was thrown in so late. But back to what I loved about the book. You could really feel the connection between Rogan and Mary. There were so many moments where they were messing with each other that had me smiling or chuckling along. The writing was really easy to read and I read this all in one sitting and couldn't put it down.

I love finding new authors and can't wait to get through the rest of the trilogy. I'm really intrigued to see what happens with the mystery of their birth. I'll definitely be picking up the rest of Kathryn Caskie's backlist. She's only published 10 full length novels, so it's an easy backlist to get through. I was looking through to see if she's published anything else or had more plans and saw she passed in 2017. Her obituary mentioned her final book was A Sin in White and published in 2012, but from what I could tell it was never actually published or it was pulled. Not sure what happened there. I'm excited to continue her works and am sad to see she passed after just getting going on her romance career.

Have you read How to Seduce a Duke?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STASTICS: How to Seduce a Duke, Kathryn Caskie, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 352 pages, published in 2006

Fall in Love TBR

Update: Wrap up for Board 1 is posted!
Update: My tbr/idea list is up for board 2!
Update: Wrap up for board 2 is posted!

 Happy Monday!

As we come to the end of August and the end of seasonal challenges, it's time to look forward. Announced earlier this month, Shelby is hosting another challenge for fall on instagram! It's called Fall in Love and will run September 1st through November 30th. Before we too much into it, there will be templates and recs and much more on her page and saved in her highlights. I have followed Shelby for a while now, but never participated in her challenges until the Summer of Swoon. During Summer of Swoon, she released two extra boards since people were finishing the first one quickly. This time, she released 3 boards right off the bat. I'll post all three below, but I'll only focus on ideas for the first board for this tbr/idea list. As with my previous challenges, I'll do wrap ups at the end of a board as well as a mid-season update to check in. Since I won't have two others running along side this time, I might be able to get all three done. However I start buckling down on crafting this time of year so my reading might drop a little. I'm starting to get into audiobooks though, so we'll see what happens.

As with my other tbrs, I'm not going to list anything out too specific since I'm a mood reader most of the time. I do want to list some ideas I have for the most unique of the prompts or ones I have ideas for that I want to keep in mind. 

🍁 First off, I take part in several book clubs. My favorite book club lately has been The Rake Appreciation Society hosted by Crystal and Jen. They usually stick to one book a month and have released their planned schedule through November. September is Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels. It covers book you're excited for, place you want to visit, enemies to lovers, new to you author, over 300 pages and published before 2021. Depending on the edition I pick up this might also cover green on the cover, couple on the cover and/or green on the cover. The October book is going to be In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks. This would cover book you're excited for, couple on cover, set in a place you want to visit, new to you author, over 300 pages and published before 2021. The November book is going to be The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne. I'm not sure if I'll reread this since I read it earlier this year. It's also later in the challenge, so if I do it'll probably apply to either board 2 or 3. In case you want to know, this would cover couple on the cover, romance with suspense, fall release, place you want to visit, over 300 pages and published before 2021 on board 1.

🍁 Another book club that announces books quite a bit ahead is the Historical Hellions. They've announced the books through December, but not the date and time of the live show. September is The Pirate and the Pagan by Virginia Henley. This would cover fall release, published before 2021, over 300 pages, place you want to visit and new to me author. Depending on the cover it can also cover green on the cover and either couple on the cover or no people on the cover. The October book is The Bride by Julie Garwood. It can cover book you're excited for, place you want to visit, over 300 pages, published before 2021 and couple on the cover. The November pick is A Pirate's Pleasure by Heather Graham. Once again this is later in the challenge, but if I read it early it'll cover board 1's couple on the cover, orange on the cover, green on the cover, published before 2021, new to you author and romance with suspense. 

🍁 For the prompt place you'd like to visit, that is something easily met by almost any historical romance I read. I would love to visit England and Scotland, or even just Europe. Some specific prompts that are also easily met are the page counts, colors on covers, couple on cover, etc, etc. As for book Shelby gave 4 or 5-stars or ask Shelby for a rec, she has a list on goodreads of her top rated books. She also posts about them on her instagram. She said any of her 4 or 5-stars would also count for a rec from her, but if you want something more specific to send her a dm.

🍁 For new release, I'll direct you to my Mid-Year Freak Out where I list some upcoming releases I'm excited for. There are a couple books since then that have been announced that I'm excited for, and those are Walking in a Witchy Winterland by Juliette Cross and Pippa and the Prince of Secrets by Grace Callaway.

🍁 For giving author a second chance, I looked at some of my lower rated reads of this year and also authors I was disappointed in. I decided that for this prompt I'll most likely try another Elizabeth Boyle. I had read His Mistress by Morning and really didn't enjoy it. She has some other historical series that I've seen highly rated so I might try one of those. Particularly Something About Emmaline from her Bachelor Chronicles series sounds intriguing.

🍁 Recently I really got into Max Monroe and really enjoyed what I read. Picking up any of her other series could cover quite a few prompts, but not mentioned already would be author duo, office romance, friends to lovers and author found on instagram.

🍁 A recent add to my tbr is Wild Love by Lauren Accardo. This has absolutely gorgeous cover and would fulfill fall themed cover, trees on cover, new release, new to you author and more. This would also work for the small town prompts on the other boards.

🍁 As for fall themed books, there are several. I have quite a few Halloween novellas on my tbr, but there's nothing really that's sticking out too much to me right now. It's still a little too early for my brain for that. However, there are a few fall themed series and books I want to mention and at least one is Halloween related. There's An Autumnboro Sweet Romance series by Beth Labonte, Pumpkin Pounder by Laura Lovely and The Autumn Bride by Anne Gracie on my large tbr.

🍁 I'm not the biggest fan of office romance or enemies to lovers, and those are commonly paired together. Partly because I get annoyed when nothing gets done at work and I don't like our couple being mean to each other and intentionally trying to hurt each other. Anyways, there are a couple office romances I am interested in trying, although I keep mentioning them and never getting around to them. The first is The Hating Game by Sally Thorne and the other is Bossman by Vi Keeland. We'll see if it finally happens this fall.

That's everything that's really sticking out to me for now, but I am a mood reader so we'll see what I actually end up reading. If you want to follow along before my wrap up and mid-challenge update, feel free to follow me on isntagram. I've been keeping up with any readathons and/or challenges in my stories and save them in my highlights as well. Shelby has also already posted a bunch of recommendations so also check out her instagram. I hope you join me in the fall reading vibes. I can't wait. Fall is my favorite season and I'm loving that already our nights are starting to cool down here in Colorado. I just love the cozy vibes and cooler weather. It's my happy place.

Will you be joining Fall in Love?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Ain't Myth-Behaving by Katie MacAlister

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Having some time before needing to get to some book club books, I wanted to try to finish up the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo. I had three prompts left and decided to pick up Katie MacAlister's Ain't Myth-Behaving. I am a big fan of Katie MacAlister and own most of her books that aren't in her dragon series (I'm still working on collecting those). I was surprised to see that this is actually a bind up of two novellas when I picked it up. Since this is two novellas, I'll do two smaller reviews. Oh, and this covered the demi-gods prompt. Update: I applied this to the prompt of backlist for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

The first novella is Stag Party.

This novella focuses on the Irish god Cernunnos, aka Dane. Every year on Beltane he gets married and secures his reign for another year. When he comes back from the Underworld (he's the god/ruler of the 5th hour), he has a week left and his wife for the past 1500+ years has decided to marry Dionysus. Luckily for him Megan, a travel writer is here to visit his castle and do an article. There's an immediate attraction and Dane immediately goes about trying to woo Megan to get married in 7 days.

I would give this novella 4-stars. It was really cute, but took a little bit for me to get into the world and situation. I don't know too much about Irish or Celtic gods, so that might have contributed to it. I also was confused on how it connected with Grecian mythos since his ex-wife marries Dionysus. I know that mythos tend to be adapted from culture to culture, but I feel like the average person would know at least the basics of the Greek Gods over Irish. It just had me confused a took me out of the story a little bit. Dane was also very arrogant and overly sure of himself, but it helped that he had good humor about everything and even though it came across wrong, he was always truthful. I was a little bit insta-love, but we are dealing with gods and their charm so it didn't bother me as much. It was fun and cute.

The second novella is Norse Truly.

Brynna is visiting family in Sweden. One night she goes to get some last minute groceries and ends up swerving to miss a deer in the road and ends up in the North Sea. She's rescued by Alrik and his friends, vikings that have been cursed. They think she's a Valkyrie and want her to help them get to Valhalla. 

I loved this novella a lot more than the first. This one is the shorter of the two by about 40 pages, and I would've wanted the page length switched. Part of this could be because I'm more familiar with viking and Norse mythology. I just loved how the story played out the the mini quests they were sent on. I would give this a 4.5-star rating. The only thing I didn't like was the first time they get intimate. Brynna says she has three choices when they start kissing and getting more handsy, she could go sleep in the house, go back to sleep in the gazebo with the other vikings, or give in to Alrik and sleep with him. I almost wish that she had said yes, let's stay alone, but not go all the way. There's always another option. But she is dealing with a Viking, even if he has learned some of the modern views. 

Overall I really enjoyed both of these novellas. Stag Party makes me want to pick up more Irish or Celtic inspired mythos books to learn more. I love learning about mythology and find it really interesting. I love Katie MacAlister's writing and will continue to read her. I just wish there was a little more of her humor in these novellas. That's one thing I really enjoy about her books. I also wish she'd do a full length novel set in the same world as Norse Truly. I really loved her take on Odin and would love to read more! If you love mythos retellings, definitely check this out, especially the second novella.

Have you read Ain't Myth-Behaving?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Ain't Myth-Behaving, Katie MacAlister, 4-stars, 0 days, paperback, 353 pages, published in 2007

Summer of Swoon Wrap Up 2

Update: My wrap up is posted for the 3rd board!

Happy Saturday!

It's official, I have finished my second board for the Summer of Swoon! I participated in Summer of Swoon by Shelby on instagram. In case you haven't seen my previous posts about it, I have my original tbr, first wrap up and second tbr. This is the wrap up for board #2. Below is going to be the blank bingo board so you can see all the prompts!

Here is my completed board! I'm super happy I was able to get the 2nd board done with time to spare. Like my previous wrap up, I'll list the books read and the corresponding prompt starting in the top left corner and going row by row.

🌊 Set in Summer: Deep, Deep Donuts by Megan Wade

🌊 Published in 2021: Carnal Urges by JT Geissinger

🌊 Updated/Alternate Cover: Ivan by Sophie Lark

🌊 Shelby's Favorite Author: Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe

🌊 Novella: Pizza My Heart by Frankie Love

🌊 Starts with a W: Witches Get Stitches by Juliette Cross

🌊 Bipoc Author: Olivia and the Masked Duke by Grace Callaway

🌊 Guy on the Right Side of the Cover: Up to the Challenge by Terri Osburn

🌊 Part of a Series: Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas

🌊 Trope Outside of Comfort Zone: Broken Fighter by Maggie Cole

🌊 Rec from Booksta Friend: The Heir by Sophie Lark

🌊 Water on the Cover: Meant to Be by Terri Osburn

🌊 Starts with a B: Blindsided by Amy Daws

🌊 5-star Prediction: The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe

🌊 Orange on the Cover: Hot Stuff by Max Monroe

🌊 Yellow on the Cover: The Remarried Empress by Alphatart & Sumpul

🌊 Bearded Hero on the Cover: Ruthless Stranger by Maggie Cole

🌊 Stand Alone: Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

🌊 Indie Romance: Snow by Sophie Lark

🌊 Diverse Main Character: The Rebel by Sophie Lark

🌊 Travel or Vacation: Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas

🌊 Guy on the Left of the Cover: Going Cowboy Crazy by Katie Lane

🌊 Book No One Talks About: Tempting Auzed by Victoria Aveline

🌊 New To Me Author: Overruled by Emma Chase

🌊 Backlist: The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham

Like I mentioned before, I feel like a lot of these prompts are more easily met by contemporary romance. It makes sense since that's mostly what Shelby reads. It helped that I went on a contemporary romance binge and was able to make good progress on this board. I have a list of books that I've read that didn't fit this board and put on board 3 where possible. I don't know if I'm going to push it though since at this point I've only read 11 of the 25 prompts. I do have one prompt still to fill on the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo as well. I might prioritize finishing that one first and then see what I have left for book club books the rest of the month and time left. I could go on a novella binge too which would be easier and quicker reads. If I do decide to do the 3rd bingo board, I'll post the updates in my stories on instagram and save it to my highlights. I won't do a tbr for it though and just stick to a wrap up for board 3 if I complete it. Also, Shelby has already announced her autumn challenge, Fall in Love. It'll run from September 1st through November 30th and I'll be posting my tbr for that in the next few days, so stay tuned for that.

Are you participating in the Summer of Swoon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Going Cowboy Crazy by Katie Lane

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I knew moving forward based on my mood, I wanted to stick with contemporary but on the happier side. After reading Grumpy Cowboy a couple weekends ago, I wanted more cowboy romances. I was looking at some historical options as well, but found Going Cowboy Crazy by Katie Lane already on my goodreads tbr. This is the first book in her Deep in the Heart of Texas series. It has my favorite trope, wrong sibling, and sounded like it would fit what I was in the mood for. I was also able to apply this to the prompt guy on the the left side of the cover for Summer of Swoon board 2.

Faith is in the Texan small town Bramble. Her mother had passed away recently and revealed that Faith is adopted and has a twin sister in Bramble. She was raised by college professors in Chicago and is a complete fish out of water in Bramble. She walks into the only open place in town, the bar. She gets recognized as her sister Hope and decides to stay quiet to learn more about her. Slate is Hope's high school sweetheart and they get thrust together. Hope has gone to Hollywood to be an actor, but the town wants her to stay in town. They end up "impounding" her car and banding together to pair Slate and Hope back together.

This was really cute, but I did have a couple issues with the book. What I didn't like was the almost stereotypical scenes and characters. It felt a little too stereotypical sometimes and not real. I also got a little bit annoyed at the people in town. I understand that there was kind of mob mentality and everyone wanted to believe what they wanted to, but it took too long for people to start realizing that Faith was not Hope. I totally felt for Faith and really connected with her frustration, but it just lasted too long. I also really disliked that people kept doing what they thought "she" wanted without her consent. I was so pissed when that lady died her hair and tried to change her hair. People also were on her for drinking her coffee differently and eating differently. Hope has been living in Hollywood for several years at this point, and even if she hadn't moved away people can change. I just got so frustrated with the town. 

While Slate and Faith connected and were more lustful in their relationship to start with, I liked how they stepped back and started to connect more emotionally. Faith really gets put through the ringer finding out that she was the only one adopted out and that Hope was raised with their birth parents. While I understood their reasoning, I didn't like how quickly things smoothed over. Faith has a lot of hurt to process that gets compounded and I didn't like how quickly it was dealt with. I didn't need to see everything, but it felt too quick for her to start calling them mom and dad and live with them. I also didn't like that they treated her like she was a teenager and not a 30-year old woman. I did enjoy Faith and Slate's relationship and really was able to connect to her. There were some weird choices made, and I did not like how her sister treated Hope treated her when she came to town. Really Faith and Slate saved this book for me despite it having a fairly cliché 3rd act break-up.

This is Katie Lane's debut novel and I'm definitely intrigued to read more from her. While there were things I didn't like, there was also some good parts, the main one being the relationship between Faith and Slate. I might try one of her more recent works next to see how she's progressed. I am also intrigued for the next book in the series since it's about Hope and I'd like to see her find her own and be redeemed a little bit. I will definitely try some more books by Katie. It's really just the town that bothered me the most about this book and how they treated Faith, so that hopefully that won't be an issue in the other books. We'll see where my mood takes me.

Have you read Going Cowboy Crazy?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Going Cowboy Crazy, Katie Lane, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 372 pages, published in 2011

Written On His Skin by Simone Stark

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Update: I reread this again in April of 2022. I used it to cover the prompts cover you love for Love Has Sprung and Dear John (includes a text, letter or email) for the Taylor Swift Quarterly Challenge! 

After reading Run Posy Run, I could tell that I wasn't in the mood for dark romance. I decided to pick up a little novella to reread that would fit my mood better. I decided to pick up Written On His Skin by Simone Stark for the third time. Update: I applied this to the prompt of stand alone for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Abigail is a vet in Boulder, Colorado and via a friend writes a letter to a soldier stationed overseas. Roux ends up being the recipient since he has no living relatives. He is immediately charmed by Abigail's letter and feels that it's kismet. They end up writing back and forth and they quickly have a more romantic connection.

I am a big fan of epistolary romances and last year when I reread Love in the Afternoon last year, went through an epistolary romance list on goodreads for more recs. This was on that list. I reread it again later that year when I purchased the paperback. I had previously rated it 4-stars, but on this reread I bumped it up to 5. If I have wanted to reread it twice, it has to be 5-stars to me. I love the representation and want Simone Stark to write more. I loved how Roux completely fell for Abigail without knowing what she looks like. She is plus-sized, but that doesn't matter to him one bit. Plus he's a Cajun from Louisiana and when he lays on the accent it's super hot. I love accents. My heart always races when he calls her for the first time and it's just such a feel good book. There's not too much more I could say without basically retelling the plot, but this is one of my favorite novellas.

I always love when a book is set in Colorado. I also loved the small discussion about being a soldier and dealing with things they see. I really enjoyed this reread and it was just what I needed to reset my mind. I am so happy that I have this in paperback and hope that Simone Stark writes something else.

Have you read Written On His Skin?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Written On His Skin, Simone Stark, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 126 pages, published in 2017

Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

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The first book I read for the Dark Romance Readathon was Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells. I had originally heard about this book from Jen (The Book Refuge) and was intrigued. This was able to hit the scavenger hunt prompts I'll Burn the World Down and That's Wasn't an Enthusiastic Yes. I was also able to apply this to the stand alone prompt for the Summer of Swoon board 2.

Posy is dating Dario and is getting ready for him to propose. She comes home one day after shopping and gets led into his office. He has received a video of her having sex with someone else, her high school boyfriend. The video has been doctored to more currant date. Dario ends up forcing Posy to leave. His driver/2nd hand man drops Posy off at a hotel and recommends she runs. While Dario just wants her to leave, the  head of the mafia isn't going to like "loose ends" running around. She takes off while being both angry at Dario and the situation and also broken-hearted.

I really enjoyed this. I feel like had I been in a different mood, it would be a 5-star. If you've been reading my reviews the past little bit, I've been a bit slumpy and trying to beat back finding myself in a full-blown slump. I was super excited for the readathon and had some good ideas, but I just wasn't in the mood for dark romance. This was still really written well. I also loved the conversations had about sociopaths versus psychopaths. 

I also loved how they both Posy and Dario catalogued and really inspected and tried to understand their feelings. It was really interesting and eye-opening about how much Posy put up with because she wanted to be and be in love so much. She didn't really share her true feelings on things and it became self-destructive. After the break-up and she gets not only her eyes open on her own emotions, but also that Dario is not normal emotionally. I feel like there are a lot of mafia romances where they are called psychopaths or sociopaths, but they're more just crazy criminals. It was really cool to see how a relationship would work with someone with that kind of social disorder. I liked how they both grew and learned about each other. I also really enjoyed that their big connection was board games and more specifically chess. While Dario doesn't really think or believe he can love, he tells Posy that she's the one. When she questions it, he mentions how he almost sees everyone as pieces on the chess board, but Posy is the one on the other side of the board. It just made my board game loving heart so happy and was such a touching statement.

I definitely want to reread this when I'm in the mood for dark romance to see how I'll feel about it then. As I was writing this review I'm kind of thinking of changing it to 5-stars since I'm talking about the things I loved about it. I think I'll leave it 4 for now though and add this to my reread tbr. I'm super intrigued by Cate C. Wells's writing style and will definitely check out her other books. It's always fun to find another new author!

Have you read Run Posy Run?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Run Posy Run, Cate C. Wells, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 260 pages, published in 2021

Dark Romance Readathon Wrap Up

 Well, things didn't quite go as planned. This past weekend, August 13 - 16 was the Dark Romance Readathon. It was hosted by Temecka, Izzy, Heather, Nayema and Ashley. Instead of doing a bingo board, they had a scavenger hunt which was fun. It helped lessen the pressure of getting a bingo. I also liked that they included both Friday and Monday in the "weekend." As you can tell from my tbr, I was super excited for the readathon and have really been enjoying dark romance lately.

However, my mood has completely shifted and it's not what I want to read right now. I ended up reading one book, but it at least met two of the clues. I thought maybe I'd get another book in late Sunday and Monday, but I could tell that if I picked up another dark romance right now, I would be pushed back into a book slump. I just (weirdly) want to read happy contemporary right now. So there won't be too much to wrap up below, but I'll at least post my few graphics.

🔍 Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

Hopefully next time they hold the Dark Romance Readathon I'll be in the mood and able to join. I was really enjoying dark romance lately, but I just need to follow what my mood says so I don't just stop reading as a whole. I really dislike book slumps. It's hard when all you want to do is read and relax but nothing sounds good or ends up hitting the spot. I think I just need a bit of happy and less angst and the contemporary romances I've been picking up lately have really helped keep in a better mindset lately.

Did you participate in the Dark Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas

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It's time for one the biggest historical romance releases of the year, Devil in Disguise by Lisa Kleypas. This is the 7th, and I think final, book in her Ravenels series. Not only was this one of my most anticipated releases of the year, it is also the August book for the Rake Appreciation Society. The club is hosted by Crystal and Jen and the live show [Link is now up!] is this Thursday. Update: I applied this to the prompt of plants on cover for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

I've mentioned this before, but my favorite hero of Lisa Kleypas (so far) is Marcus, Lord Westcliff. His books is It Happened One Autumn and both him and his estate Stony Cross Park are seen in so many of Lisa's books. This heroine is Merritt, his eldest daughter. She is now widowed and running her late husband's shipping company. She meets Scottish whiskey maker Keir and there's an immediate attraction. Things happen and soon Merritt and Keir are sequestered away while he recovers from some injuries.

I absolutely adored this book and it's one of my top reads of the year, and most likely will stay near the top of the list at the end of the year. This was such a good book and I loved almost every moment. Even though this felt a little more insta-love than usual from Lisa, the way the story progresses and they way that they are able to naturally open up to each other and connect in multiple ways was so beautiful. I could rant and rave about this, but if you enjoy Lisa Kleypas or historical romance, you need to read this book. Even more so with a good chunk of the newer historicals just quite not doing it for me. Also, there is a connection to Sebastian so the devil in the title does match the previous books. I don't want to spoil it, but the way Lisa Kleypas handles the situation and how both Sebastian and Evie react to who Keir is is just so heartwarming.

The only downside I would say for this book is that it's not really a Ravenels. Yes we see characters that we've met in the previous books, the we mostly just interact with Phoebe and a little bit of Garrett and Ransom. Now, here's my crazy take on where this fits. After Chasing Cassandra it would've been fun to have a holiday novella. There we can learn about Merritt becoming a widow. Since the St. Vincents and Marsdens are known to be close and the kids raised as if cousins, we could've have a huge family holiday celebration. That would then lead into a new series, of which this would be book 1, and focusing on either just the Marsden kids, or the wallflower 2nd generation. That's the only thing I would change. This just doesn't fit in with Ravenels to me. That's it, the only thing I didn't like about the book. Well, that and there could've been more Marcus and Lillian, but they are my favorite couple from the wallflowers.

This was such a great read and really made me feel good and had everything that I love in a Lisa Kleypas and just historical romance in general. After my contemporary binge a couple weekends ago, I've been able to come out of a book slump and this book really helped me climb more out of the grips of the slump. I can't wait to gush about the book with everyone else on Thursday at the Rake Appreciation live show!

Have you read Devil in Disguise?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Devil in Disguise, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, paperback, 384 pages, published in 2021

Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

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I have a confession to make. Do I want to make this confession? Not really. Let's be honest; I am a bad historical romance reader. Put me in the dungeon, with the crankiest of dowagers, or whatever historical romance horribleness you can think of. Okay, here it goes. I have never read Chasing Cassandra. Waits for historical romance meteor to strike me down. I know, how could I miss getting to this. Part of the reason is this is book 6 of Lisa Kleypas's Ravenels series. At the time, it was considered to be the last Ravenel book since all of the Ravenels were married off. Of course later we were surprised with the announcement of Devil in Disguise. But I didn't want the series to end. I still have a couple other series that I absolutely adore that I never read the last book in. I have a problem. Send help. Now I have to read Chasing Cassandra. Update: I applied this to the prompt of white on cover for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

Cassandra is the last Ravenel to be married, the twin to Pandora. She's a sweet and pretty girl that always wanted to be married and start a family. She's feeling down though because she's the only one that hasn't found a husband. During the timeline before West and Phoebe (from Devil's Daughter) got together, she asks him if they can get married. West kindly shuts her down. Unbeknownst to them, Tom Severin, who we've seen in the previous books, overhears their conversation and offers to marry Cassandra. She declines, because she wants to marry for love (despite propositioning West).

First off, I knew most of the storyline and know that a lot of people really love Tom. My favorite podcast, Smart Women Read Romance, did an episode last year that made me want to finally read it. Oh boy did this book put me through the ringer. We kind of have a few fast forwards in time, which I'm not always a fan of, especially with how many there were in here. I absolutely loved this book. I connected so much to Cassandra and the struggle with feeling left behind and wanting something so much and it just not coming to you. I really loved that what Cassandra really wanted was to be a mom and have a loving relationship and be a good a wife. I feel like a lot of historicals released recently overly focus on the feminism aspects and women wanting to be more than expected during that time. Which is okay, except a lot of the way that they're executed is disparaging those that don't want those same things. I loved that none of the side characters, including her forward thinking twin Pandora, thought less of Cassandra for basically wanting to be a regency housewife. It just blows me away that it only came out last year and didn't fall into that trend.

I also love how into Cassandra Tom is. While he is drawn to her by her beauty same as everyone else, he quickly sees beyond the surface to who she is as a person. I loved how everything he did was for her and it definitely gave "I'll burn the world for you" vibes, which I absolutely love. This book had me tearing up and laughing. I just love the way that Lisa Kleypas books make me feel and really can't recommend her more.  I loved this book and it's tied for my favorite of the series with Marrying Winterborne, just maybe a smidge ahead. I'm both super excited but also nervous on how Devil is Disguise is going to go. I've heard amazing things and have been trying not to listen to the hype too much, but I'm really hoping it lives up to my expectations. Cross your fingers for me!

Have you read Chasing Cassandra?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Chasing Cassandra, Lisa Kleypas, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 374 pages, published in 2020