Fall in Love Board 2 Wrap Up

 Another board done! I ended up added up squeezing a couple extra books in and finished ahead of schedule, but that's okay! If you haven't seen my other posts, Shelby Taggart hosts seasonal reading challenges on Instagram. This fall she hosted Fall in Love and had 3 boards. I ended up kind of in a slump as well as just having other things to occupy my free time. I was hoping to get at least two of the boards done, and I was able to! If you haven't seen my other posts, here is my board 1 tbr, board 1 wrap up and board 2 tbr. I'll go ahead and post the board empty if you haven't seen it yet.

I'll list out the prompts starting with the top left corner and going row by row with the book I used. As any remaining reviews get posted, I'll update with links! All reviews are linked!

🍁 Read a Trope You Love: The Husband Trap by Tracy Anne Warren

🍁 A Book You're Excited For: The Wedding by Julie Garwood

🍁 Man in a Suit on the Cover: The Boss Who Stole Christmas by Jana Aston

🍁 Book Part of a Series: Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

🍁 New Guy/Girl in Town: Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley

🍁 MC Owns a B&B, Hotel or Inn: Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis

🍁 Outside Photo Cover: Chasing Her Fire by Claire Kingsley

🍁 Book Published in October: Jack by Layla Fae

🍁 MC is Either a Chef or Baker: Wicked Captor by Zoey Draven

🍁 Cover Model is Smiling: Rushing In by Claire Kingsley

🍁 Romance Under 300 Pages: Green-Eyed Monster by Elsie Winters

🍁 Romance Shelby Gave 4 or 5 Stars: Off to the Races by Elsie Silver

🍁 Starts With H: Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

🍁 Romance Set on Farm/Ranch: Out of the Gate by Elsie Silver

🍁 Illustrated Cover: The King of Hel by Grace Draven

🍁 Second Chance Romance: Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

🍁 Book By New to You Author: The Devil and I by Kay Alastor

🍁 Brown on the Cover: The Undying King by Grace Draven

🍁 Romance Over 300 Pages: Gothikana by RuNyx

🍁 Book By Author You Found on Instagram: Tamed by the Troll by Tracy Lauren

🍁 Gray on the Cover: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

🍁 Book Published Before 2021: Bite Me, Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann

🍁 Ask Shelby for a Book Rec: A Photo Finish by Elsie Silver

🍁 Book with a Cursive Title: Fighting For Us by Claire Kingsley

🍁 Starts with P: Protecting You by Claire Kingsley

I had a lot of fun doing another of Shelby's challenges. I can't wait for Winter's Kiss to start (tomorrow) and love the mix of prompts she puts together. In the past I haven't been the biggest contemporary romance reader, but thanks to Shelby's recommendations and her challenges I've found myself picking up more recently and finding a lot of really good authors. I can't wait for to get started on the winter and holiday prompts and hope that I find some new authors next season as well!

Did you participate in Fall in Love?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

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The next novella for the Kate Daniels readalong is Magic Gifts. It's listed as book 5.4 in the series by Ilona Andrews. I do want to mention though that even though Magic Gifts is numbered before Gunmetal Magic, it's included at the end of the ebook. They take place at the same time, but glancing at a couple reviews it seemed like people got more out of it reading it after. I decided to read them flipped out of order since I had it on my kindle as the bonus. I am reading the Kate Daniels series as part of the readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I was also able to apply this to the prompt part of a series for the Fall in Love board 2.

Kate and Curran are going out on a rare date in the city. When a necklace kills a vampire navigator there, Kate and Curran have to step in to take care of the two rampaging vampires. When the necklace gets removed by the deceased's mother and placed on her son, Kate and Curran step in to protect the boy.

This was such a fun novella! First off, we get Kate and Curran teaming up together the entire time. I hope that one of the future books also has them together for the most part. I love the banter between them and anytime Kate calls him "your furriness" or similar I always crack up. We also get to meet the Neo-Vikings and see more of Ghastek. He really intrigues me and I'd love to see more of him. His dry sense of humor always gets me as well.

We also get to see the first meeting of Kate with the dead Viking giant Hakon. They meet again in Gunmetal Magic, and it was fun to see what happened the first time around. We also get to see more of the Med-Mage Doolittle and he even joins in on the case. I really enjoyed getting to see more of the world and I guess there are some hints of what's to come. The girls didn't go too much into it because of spoilers, but I'm certainly interested to see how the deals made in here will come to pass in future books.

I had a lot of fun getting back to Kate Daniels and can't wait to jump into the next few reads next month. This was another great novella in the series and I love how every one has added more to the world and overall story. Ilona Andrews is just masterful. If you haven't picked up Kate Daniels or any of their books, I highly recommend them.

Have you read Magic Gifts?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Magic Gifts, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 160 pages, published in 2012

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

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The next full sized novella in the Kate Daniels readalong is Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews. This is listed as 5.5 in the series and included in November's readalong selections. Even though it is an in between novel, it's full length. In case you've missed my previous Kate Daniels reviews, it's hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. I was also able to use this for the 2nd chance romance prompt for Fall in Love board 2.

We come back to Andrea's POV. She's struggling to find her place after getting kicked out of the Order and now working with Kate at Cutting Edge. When she is assigned the case of murders at her ex-mate Raphael's site by the Pack, she's forced to reconcile her life in Atlanta.

Tiny summary, but I don't want to spoil too much. Now, I loved getting a full length novel from Andrea's POV. I loved the previous novella and it was really fun to see a different perspective for a longer amount of time. I also loved that Andrea did not just roll over, not that I expected her to, with Raphael and how he treated her relationship with the Order. I loved how she explained it to him and that he finally understood what it was that he was asking her to do. It's not an easy decision, and at this point it wasn't even her decision anymore. I still loved that she was so firm with him that if they had any chance of reconciliation that he needed to understand why and how hurt she was.

We get more fun expansion into the world and dealt a lot with Egyptian mythology here. I really enjoyed it, except for the snake parts. I just can't really handle that and found my self speed reading some of the fights since I did not want to get nightmares. They are one of my biggest fears and I can get nightmares pretty easily if snakes are even mentioned around me. It's just one of those things. A part of me wants to rate it 4.5 stars because of it, but that's more of a me thing. While I tend to rate emotionally, I don't think that should be something that's a ding against the book. Just be warned, if you don't like snakes either.

I did want a little more of the tension between Raphael and Andrea before they got back together, but I can forgive it since this is technically an Urban Fantasy and they are also fated mates. They also had a couple of the discussions between them that I was wanting. I also would've liked the steamy scenes to be a little more developed. But that's just my romance happy brain wanting more. I really loved this and hope that we get to see Raphael and Andrea get the main character in the future. Even if just in novella form. I can't wait to get to Magic Gifts and see what was going on with Kate and Curran during this time. Another great read from Ilona Andrews and I can't wait to continue the series!

Have you read Gunmetal Magic?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Gunmetal Magic, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 434 pages, published in 2012

Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews

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First off, this cover is absolutely amazing, but it is also very Buffy the Vampire Slayer inspired. In case you didn't know, BtVS was my favorite show growing up and is still one of my top faves. Anyways, this gorgeous cover is for Magic Tests by Ilona Andrews. This is considered 5.3 in the Kate Daniels series. I read this as apart of the readalong hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. It was originally published in the anthology An Apple for the Creature, which is how I read it.

For this novella we are in Julie's POV! Julie has been tasked by Kate to choose a new school to go to. When she picks one out, Kate accompanies her to the chosen school. When they arrive, Julie is treated as an agent of Kate's business and tasked to find a missing student.

Small summary, but there was quite a big packed in this short story. I loved getting Julie's POV and seeing how she thought of Kate. I know that the spin-off focuses on Julie so it's cool that we'll not only get to see her grow up, but also see her POV change over time. We also got another dragon! I hope we get to see more of them in the series. I also loved how even though Julie felt it was trick to get her to feel okay with going to this school, she still couldn't stop herself from wanting to go there. Not only because she's making friends, but to protect them.

I don't want to go too much into it since this is so short, but I loved seeing the Kate Daniels universe from Julie's eyes. She's been through a lot and it was interesting to see how children are adapting to the world. I thought it was really interesting that this school is also focused on those with magical abilities. Which was another cool thing to see was how Julie's magic sight works. I hope she gets more POV novellas in this series so we can see more of her magic and how it'll evolve. If you are reading the series as well and haven't tried any of the novellas, I really recommend them. They broaden the world so much more than I expected.

Have you read Magic Tests?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Magic Tests, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 40 pages, published in 2012

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

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It's that time again! The November books for the Kate Daniels readalong mainly focuses on Magic Slays. The readalong is hosted by Stef, Heather and Megan. Magic Slays is the 5th book in the series by Ilona Andrews. I was able to use this for the prompt grey on the cover for the Fall in Love board 2.

We pick back up with Kate and her new freelance business Cutting Edge. One of leaders in the Red Guard shows up and hires Kate to figure out how and where the scientist they were protecting was kidnapped too. Also, there's a special project that he's working on that also needs to be recovered. As Kate gets her first real case, not all is as it seems.

Now, that Kate and Curran are officially mated, there's not quite the tension between them that we've seen in the previous books. I did enjoy the scenes we got of them together, but I did want more of Curran. I also loved that they kept checking in with each other and making sure things were okay no matter what issues they were currently having. We also get to learn more about Kate's mother and that she was magical as well. It wasn't dealt with too much here and I did wish it was addressed a little more. I'm sure we'll see Kate training and working with the witches in the future books, but I did want more here.

Where this book felt short for me was that it was a little too much on the nose dealing with social issues. It just was a little too obvious for my tastes. I still really enjoyed the world and everything. I also wanted a good fight scene as well. While there was a big battle and it was nice that we didn't end with Kate and/or Curran almost dying, I did want to see more of Kate as a badass. The books up until here have really focused on Kate getting more powerful and learning more about her powers and how to wield them. It kind of fits in with what I was saying before, but I just wanted more advancement. We do see Kate do that crazy magic saving Julie's life and there was a secret voice. That's really intriguing to find out who it is. I kind of think it might be Roland, but I can see it being someone else as well.

I really enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to see what happens next. While it wasn't my favorite so far, I still really enjoyed getting back into the world. At first I was worried about stopping myself from bingeing the series too quickly, I'm finding that spacing them out with other reads in between is really benefiting my enjoyment. Plus it helps that there so many novellas and extras that add to the world that are from other POVs as well. If you enjoy Urban Fantasy, certainly check out this series!

Have you read Magic Slays?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Magic Slays, Ilona Andrews, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 308 pages, published in 2011

Off to the Races by Elsie Silver

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Having a little bit more time to mood read before getting to some readalong books, I went through my tbr for the 2nd board for Fall in Love. I was in the mood for contemporary, so I decided to pick up Elsie Silver's Gold Rush Ranch series. It's been hyped a little by Shelby and I've been wanting to try them. I ended up using this for the prompt Shelby gave 4 or 5 stars. The first book is Off to the Races and is also Elsie's debut novel!

Vaughn has returned to his grandfather's ranch to try to save it. The family own two businesses and he used to be the PR guy for the mining side. After his grandfather is exposed for fixing horse races and then passing shortly after, Vaughn has stepped in. Not only is he hoping to save his grandfather's and the ranch's reputation, he also needs to get away and grieve in his own way. He hires Billie, one of the best upcoming horse trainers. She's got secrets of her own, but when she connects with one of the most cantankerous horses, he doesn't know if it's worth the risk.

Now, this book is at the threshold, if not a little past, the angst I can handle. I'm completely blown away that this is Elsie's first book. It was so good. I loved the small town feel with them being isolated on the ranch. It was a great grumpy sunshine trope. A little bit of enemies to lovers, which I'm not a fan of, but we know right away that it's more just them goading each other for fun. There were a lot of talk about grief and how everyone experiences it differently. Vaughn was really struggling with not only dealing with his grief and not in the prescribed way of his family, but also reconciling him having done something so honorable.

I loved how Vaughn and Billie connected emotionally and both had a lot of issues that the other help them identify and push to work on to be together. While Vaughn sometimes did or said the wrong things, I loved how immediately he knew it was wrong. There was one time when they were arguing in his POV and his inner monologue is like "I can't stop the emotions, I didn't mean it, but we're going there." It felt so real and I loved the deep dive into both of the character's psyches. It just helped connect me to both of them and really root for them to get there. Plus I loved the setting of a horse ranch and seeing a sport I haven't read too much in romance novels.

I really need to stop gushing about this book, but I absolutely adored it to pieces. I can't wait to read more from Elsie and this series. I will be adding the series to my wishlist. I know that there's a novella that's next about his grandfather and grandmother. I haven't looked at the main characters for book two yet, but I have some ideas of who the future pairings might be. I can't wait! Also, she just revealed the cover for the third book and it's absolutely gorgeous! Another thing I want to mention, if you join her newsletter you get some extras for both books and the novella for free. If you love contemporary romance and small town romance, please try this. I'm so thankful to Shelby for recommending this series. Seriously, please read this book. Also, if you love horses, this is a must read. So. Freaking. Good.

Have you read Off to the Races?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Off to the Races, Elsie Silver, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 334 pages, published in 2021

Rushing In by Claire Kingsley

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With a little bit of time to mood read before needing to get to some readalong or book club books, I knew I wanted to get back to Claire Kingsley. I thought about going back to her Miles Family series, but decided after the epilogue in Unraveling Him that I wanted to get caught up in the Bailey Brothers first. Rushing In is the fourth book in the series. I was able to use this for the Fall in Love prompt cover model is smiling.

Gavin, the wild child and youngest Bailey is working a nearby wildfire. Things happen and he ends up needing to deploy his fire shelter. After getting rescued, he crosses the street without looking and gets hit by a car. The driver, Skylar, is the fire chief's daughter and back in town. She is a thriller and suspense novelist, but needs to take some time for herself after being dropped from her publisher and broken up with by her agent and live-in boyfriend. With his broken leg Gavin is side-lined while he recovers. Needing not only a friend, but a guide to Tilikum, Gavin befriends Skylar.

I really loved this book. While it quite didn't hit me like Unraveling Him did, I really enjoyed getting into Gavin's POV. I could tell from the previous books that he doesn't feel like he's taking risks like his brothers think he does, and it was nice to get that confirmation. He has an almost physic power that helps him figure out the risks of whatever situation he's in. I loved that even though they all thought he was a little too extra, when it came to being a fireman if he said something they trusted him. They ragged on him later, but in the moment they trusted him. I also loved the way their 2nd meet cute.

We also get a lot of good representation of anxiety and mental health situations with Skylar. I also loved that she was almost immediately open with Gavin. I loved the connection  between them and how even though there was an attraction there, they really pushed being friends. I loved the evolution of their relationship. A couple times Gavin made some weird choices, but I also loved that we saw immediately how bad or off he was feeling after the issue occurred between them. Another fun aspect is we get more of the family pranks. Since Gavin is one of the more active pranksters there was a lot of good brother time in the book as well. 

I can't wait to read more of the series and have one more left to get caught up. The epilogue gives a hint as to the next couple in Chasing Her Fire and I'm certainly intrigued. We kind of get hints about them from book 2 though. Now I know and I can't wait. As soon as I can get some more mood reading in I definitely want to pick it up soon. If you are looking for a good small town romance, definitely check out this series. Also, I love this cover. The water and mountains in the background are just so pretty. Plus the cover model is smiling. It looks and feels like Gavin to me. Absolutely perfect!

Have you read Rushing In?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Rushing In, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 4 days, eBook, 460 pages, published in 2021

Green-Eyed Monster by Elsie Winters

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After reading Hot as Hades, I had one more read to fulfill the #banginthenight prompt for Bang in the Night Bingo. I looked through some options, and nothing sounded good enough or was short enough for me to get it in time. I remembered that Tamed by the Troll would count, so I just needed to find a new monster romance to replace it. I went through a couple different key words searches on my kindle and when I saw Green-Eyed Monster by Elsie Winters, I knew it was the one. This is her debut work and more of a short story. It is related to her first full length novel, Leviathan's Song, which was released about a month later and is connected. For Bang in the Night Bingo, this could also cover #squadgoals, I put a spell on you, and PSL vibes on top of #beastmode. I also used Green-Eyed Monster to cover the prompt under 300 pages for Fall in Love board 2. I also was able to cram it in during the Smutathon and it counts for monster, 2021 release, novella, new to you author and read in one sitting.

Hyrak is studying for an exam and suddenly there's crashing sounds and people are running around. He follows a friend and goes to help out. Hyrak ends up saving Solandis and carrying her and her little mushroom fae to safety.

Small summary, but this is really short and I don't want to give too much away. First off, this is such a cool premise. Hyrak is an Orc going to college to be an accountant. Solandis is doing something with botany. The idea of magical creatures having their own "normal" world and going to school is just so cool. I love it and was so intrigued to learn more about the world. This was such a sweet and fluffy romance. Hyrak and Solandis were so cute together and their mutual pining was so well done. It totally made sense why they both weren't pushing for more than friends.

Honestly, I just wanted more from this. I wanted it to be longer and a little more fleshed out. I still really enjoyed it and will definitely be picking up Leviathon's Song. I feel like this was a good primer into the world and a way for a reader to try a new author's writing style and world building without committing to a full size novel. Especially when you look at this as Elsie's debut, it just makes her more intriguing to me on how she's going to grow and evolve from here.

I don't quite know my plans for the rest of the year, but I'm thinking I'll be picking up Leviaton's Song for FaRoFeb at the the latest. I'm super intrigued and there was a note that we briefly met some of the characters that were going to be featured in it. Plus I think she said we'll see Hyrak and Solandis in the background. I can't wait to read more from this new author! I always love finding a new fantasy romance author.

Have you read Green-Eyed Monster?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Green-Eyed Monster, Elsie Winters, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 45 days, published in 2021

Historical Romance Readathon TBR

Update: Wrap up is posted! 

Another readathon announcement! We are back with the next round of the Historical Romance Readathon! When I saw the announcement videos go up from Jessica, Lacey and Lisa, I was a little worried it was another late November readathon. Since I was already planning on doing the Black FaRoFriday, I was a little worried. Thankfully they posted the announcement early and this round runs from December 6th through the 12th. It's a week long and hosted by the same lovely ladies as before. They did another bingo board and I have it below! Also, they also just launched a merch store and I definitely want to get a couple of the designs when I have some extra income.

They are also doing instagram prompts again, so I'll try to do at least a couple of them. I'll have the schedule at the end of this post. All of the ladies have said they'll post some newer recommendation videos, but they have a lot of older ones to check out as well. They are also going to continue to use the #hrreadathon on all social medias. I'll also be working on the start of my Winter's Kiss challenge, so any historical romances I was thinking of using there I'll try to squeeze in during this readathon. I have a lot of other ideas, again, and I'll list some of them below.

❄️ First off, there is a group book again. This time it's Grace Burrowes's Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish. This is the fourth book in her Windham series, but also the first in The Duke's Daughters. The Windham series is three interconnected series and is recommended to be read in order, but I'm not sure if I'm going to read the first three books. I might try to squeeze them in before the readathon starts, but we'll see. I think since it's the start of it's own series, it won't rely on the previous books heavily, but I know you tend to get a lot more out of interconnected series reading them in order.

❄️ There are quite a few historical anthologies that are holiday focused that come out every year. I have quite a few in paperback and in eBook. I'm not sure which one I'll pick up specifically, but the ones I'm most intrigued by at this time are: Five Golden Rings,  All I Want for Christmas is a Duke and Mistletoe Christmas. Also there was duet of anthologies recently released called Star of Wonder and Star of Light.

❄️ As for Christmas related books, I do also still have to read Lisa Kleypas's Wallflower novella, A Wallflower Christmas.

❄️ I've been thinking about backlists I want to get caught up on and one big author that I own all paperbacks (that are available) is Vivienne Lorret. She's one of my favorite modern historical romance authors and I need to read a couple more of her series to catch up. She's has novellas in a couple of the Anthologies above, one containing the prequel to her Wallflower Weddings series. I'm thinking I might read the Five Golden Rings anthology and then the first book in that series.

❄️ For a new to me author, I was looking at the more recent releases from debut or new series that I've bought recently. I'm not sure who I'll pick up, but I really want to try Emily Sullivan's debut novel A Rogue to Remember, Bethany Bennett's Misfits of Mayfair series and Christina Britton's Isle of Synne.

❄️ Another harder to meet prompt is outside of Europe. I could go back to the usual readathon author Joanna Shupe since I have some of her gilded age books to still read, but I also might try to finally try Jeannie Lin's Chinese historical romances. We'll see what I end up picking up.

❄️ A last idea is to read at least one Donna Fletcher. I've read quite a few of her books and would love to get another one off my to-do list. She's one of my favorite highlander romance writers.

Once again I have almost too many ideas. I might end up trying to get another audiobook in, but we'll see what happens. I've kind of been in a contemporary mood the past little bit, but historical is starting to fit my mood better. I don't know why, but the coziness really gets me more with historicals. I'm excited to try to pair them with the Winter's Kiss prompts and know there'll be easy crossover between them. I can't wait for December! If you need any other recs, feel free to check out what historicals I've read this past year!

Will you be participating in the next round of the Historical Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

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With just two prompts left to get a blackout on the Bang in the Night Bingo Challenge, I was looking for a novella that would fit the own voices retelling prompt. I couldn't really find much on my own and started looking at what others were using on their boards. One of the more popular choices was Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai. It also covers the prompts published in October and a Hades and Persephone retelling. I also was able to use this for the Fall in Love board 2 prompt starts with an H. Hot as Hades also worked for the prompts dark, red or purple cover, novella, new to you author and read in one sitting for the Smutathon.

Persephone has suddenly landed in Hades lap while taking a bath. Having been adopted by Demeter and kept away from most of the Olympiad, she's only vaguely heard the stories of Hades. Once they both realize she didn't mean to end up in the Underworld, Hades tries to send her back. When he can't, they both learn that Zeus has sent Persephone to Hades for protection.

This was a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth. I am a big fan of that myth and am a little more critical of my thoughts about how it is done. Now, Alisha Rai did have in her author's note that she took a little bit of liberties with things she was fond of (like the fact that technically Persephone is Hades's niece). This was okay and the steam was really well done. Where I wasn't the biggest fan is some of the liberties she took. Okay, making Persephone adopted, fine. I wasn't a big fan of Cerberus talking. I loved that the three heads had different personalities, but I didn't want him to talk. I wanted him more guard dog. But that's just my preference. I also wasn't too fond of the Zeus interfered and why Persephone was forced together with Hades.

My rating is definitely more of a 3.5-stars, but I will keep it rounded up to 4. I think if maybe I read the author's note first and was able to better temper my expectations before reading it would've been rated higher. While it hit the plots points that I like to see in a retelling, it just didn't quite meet everything I wanted. It was still a fun and quick read and I do recommend it if you're looking for some Hades and Persephone books.

I have heard mixed things about Alisha Rai's books and am definitely more intrigued. The writing style was so easy to read and I enjoyed it. My issues were more with the choices made and plot. I will probably pick up another Alisha Rai in the future, but I know she mainly writes contemporary so we'll see how long it takes for me to pick any others up.

Have you read Hot as Hades?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hot as Hades, Alisha Rai, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 99 pages, published in 2011

Winter's Kiss TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted for board 2!
Update: TBR is posted for the 2nd board!
Update: Wrap Up for Board 1 is posted! 

It's here! I had a feeling that Shelby on instagram was going to continue her season reading bingo boards and she announced earlier this month that the winter theme is Winter's Kiss! It'll run from December 1st, 2021 through February 28th, 2022. She hosts the reading challenges on instagram and has a multitude of templates you can use. In case you are new around here, I participated in her Summer of Swoon and am currently working on finishing the second board for Fall in Love. Once again she's created three boards. I'm only going to aim for the first two boards again, but depending on how much reading time I get after the New Year that could change. Here is board one!

I'll once again be posting wrap ups for each board by itself as I finish them. Afterwards, I'll post a tbr/mini-update for the next board. I'm super excited for some of the new prompts. In case you don't want to go searching, here's the second and third boards as well.

As always, I'm going to be listing some ideas I have and not keep myself stuck to too strict of a tbr. I usually pair things down when there's only a couple prompts left, but sometimes a book ends up covering a different prompt than expected. I love when that happens, especially if I originally had it planned to be for an easier prompt. Like with my larger/longer readathons, I'll mostly be focusing on the more obscure/difficult prompts to meet. Let's get brainstorming!

🌲 There are a lot of holiday novellas and full length novels that I'm interested in. There's a lot more releasing this year that I'm particularly intrigued by. There are a few I'm particularly interested in getting to above the others. I have most of the Wyoming Cowboy series by Jessica Clare in paperback and over half of them are holiday related. Anna Harrington also just released How the Duke Saved Christmas earlier this month. I know I have a lot of holiday anthologies I could read as well, particularly for the holidays. Instead of listing a bunch of them out, I'll just link to a goodreads list that has most of the new releases for this holiday season. Another option that I recently re-stumbled across is Sweet Inspiration by Penny Watson.

🌲 For books recommended/posted by Shelby, I made a short list of some authors I know she's rated highly and posted about that I'm interested in. I've already tried Max Monroe and definitely want to read more of their work. She also seems to enjoy Meghan Quinn and Melanie Harlow.

🌲 For new release options outside of the holiday list above, Homecoming King by Penny Reid and Savage Hearts by J.T. Geissinger both are set to come out soon and I want to get to them as quick as I can.

🌲 As for some of the books on Shelby's tbr that I'm also interested in I saw Piper Rayne's Hockey Hotties series and Mister Romance by Leisa Rayven. If you're participating as well, here's a link to her goodreads tbr.

🌲 For books I meant to read this year, I went back through some of my tbrs I posted, especially earlier in the year. A few of the ones I jotted down I also mentioned in my Black FaRoFriday tbr. I also wanted to read more in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, finally read Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas and finish Stacy Reid's Everleigh Sisters duology. I've also been really wanting to reread Lia Riley's Hellions Angels series lately.

🌲 Another prompt I was struggling with a little was hyped books. I didn't look back too far for a hyped book, but I know that some of the ones I mentioned before could count. I also saw a lot about Lucy Parker's Battle Royal when it was released in August. Since I get in a baking mood this time of year, that could be a good option if I want to mix in some non-holiday romance.

I have a lot of options, but also feel like not as many as I should for how many prompts we have. Or at least compared to my other tbrs. I think since my reading slows down this time of year I'm going to try to allow myself as much mood reading as possible. I might not even participate in all of my book club books. We'll see how I end up doing and I should know by the end of December if I'm going to push for two or three boards.

Will you be participating in Winter's Kiss?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Bite Me, Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann

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Time for another book I found looking specifically for books that would fill open spaces on my Bang in the Night Bingo. Bite Me, Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann is the first book in her Scandals with Bite series. It's a paranormal historical romance series! What's funny is I found this on a list with characters that have pet cats. This not only covers that prompt, but also a shocking twist, bite me and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for Bang in the Night. I also used this to cover the Fall in Love board 2 prompt published before 2021. I also read this during the Smutathon and it covered the prompts paranormal, vampire, new to you author and supernatural main character.

Angelica is being pushed by her mother to land a titled gentleman for a husband to receive support from her grandfather. All Angelica wants to do is become the next gothic author. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has recently come out and Angelica is a huge fan of her and her mother's writing. Her neighbor Ian, the Duke of Burnrath, lives in the perfect house to fuel Angelica's haunted mansion story. When see sneaks in one day to take a look at the place, she ends up hurting herself. Ian comes to her rescue and Angelica quickly finds that the rumors about Ian being a vampire are in fact, not rumors.

I was pretty excited for this book. I've read quite a few paranormal historical romances and a lot of them tend to be more heavy on the historical than paranormal. This was the complete opposite and I did enjoy that aspect. This was definitely more of a paranormal romance that had a historical setting. This book was touch for me to come to a decision on rating. I was thinking 4-stars, but after finishing and thinking on it for the night I decided to drop it down to 3-stars, maybe 3.5. There was just so much that left me wanting more.

While I can and do enjoy the more bluestocking debutantes, Angelica really bothered me at times. I feel like the information about Mary Shelley and Lord Byron was too much for my liking. A reason why I love historical and paranormal is for the fantastical feelings that evoke. Here it was almost based too much in real history that it kept taking me out of the more paranormal elements. It's kind of hard for me to put into words, but I just felt like a lot of different things fell short. The steamy scenes were okay words wise, but they didn't feel very steamy. I wasn't a fan of so many conflicts between them. Sometimes Angelica made decisions that didn't make sense to me. Yes she's fighting back and wanting to do what she wants, but I feel like in the beginning she at least had some common sense on what was too much. She did the actions anyways, but she at least had moments of guilt for how her actions were going to effect her parents and had second thoughts. Once her and Ian got married, it all went out the window.

Also, I really wanted Ian to confront her grandfather. He was a horrible person and I wish that more was done with him. Angelica's mother was odd. I liked her as an overbearing mama, as much as you can like one of those, but I felt like her opening up to her daughter was too quick and not in the right part of the story. Things like that just felt almost like the author had a checklist of things they wanted to include. There was too much going on and added in. Another thing that we didn't need, the backstory of the vampire hunter. Okay, give us his POV a couple of times to amp up the suspense, but I don't need him reminiscing about how he became a vampire hunter. If he's one of the villains that's just going to be killed (sorry, spoiler), I don't need to really get deep into why he's a vampire hunter. And even then, it seemed like he was just someone pious that had anger issues. There was nothing like a vampire killed his family.

There was some lead up to the next book in the series, and I'm intrigued by some of the other vampires we met, but I don't know if I'm going to continue the series. I like to give authors more than one chance, but if I do pick up more it probably won't be for a bit. I just was let down by the way that things developed. The bones were good and there were some good parts, it just kept falling short in different areas. I know that authors evolve though, so I'm not putting her on my no interest list. We'll see if and when I pick up another one.

Have you read Bite Me, Your Grace?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Bite Me, Your Grace, Brooklyn Ann, 3-stars, 3 days, eBook, 352 pages, published in 2013

Wicked Captor by Zoey Draven

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Going through my Bang in the Night Bingo prompts, I needed to find a book with Wicked in the title. I searched what was on my kindle and surprising only had a few options. One was Wicked Captor by Zoey Draven. Since the Smutathon was also going on at the same time and had an alien prompt, this was a perfect choice. Wicked Captor is the first in Zoey's Warrior of Rozun duology. This is actually a spin-off of her Warriors of Luxiria series (of which I read a couple years ago, but now see there was one more book published last year I have to get to). This also cover the red or purple on cover prompt for the Smutathon. For Bang in the Night Bingo it can also cover the prompt into the woods. Lastly, I used this for the prompt chef or baker main character for the second board of Fall in Love.

Devix is one of the warriors that we learned about in the original series that has been exiled. Now he works as a mercenary in the Quadrants. He has one last job before he's able to get out of the business and settle on Rozun. His last job is transporting his boss's newest slave, Cara. Cara is human that's been abducted and was originally at the Pit (where most of the heroines were found in the previous series). When Devix picks Cara up from her current owner, they are both surprised to find out they are fated mates.

Before we get too into the book, it's weird what I remembered about the previous series while reading this. I ran through the blurbs of the books from the previous series, but they didn't really help jog my memory. The first time Devix spoke, he said "tev" which is yes in his language. I remembered that very specifically, which was odd. I also picked up other parts of the first book, specifically when they do the fated mate ceremonies in the holy places on Luxiria. I also remembered his brother, which is the best friend and right-hand man to the ruler of the Luxirians. I couldn't remember if we saw him get exiled in the previous series or if it was just discussed.

But back to this book. It was so fun getting back into Zoey Draven. I've been working on compiling a list of authors to get caught up on and she's one of the top of my sci-fi list. I really enjoyed how things escalated between Devix and Cara. Even though they both felt the pull of the mating, they both just pushed it away and tried to fight the attraction. Once they both stopped fighting it, woo boy can Devix get it. I forgot how steamy Zoey Draven is and I loved it! I feel like you don't have to read Warriors of Luxiria to read this, but it did give some extra world building. Also, even though this is a duology it didn't end on a cliffhanger. I was slightly nervous about it going in, but I love that it didn't end on a cliffhanger. Devix and Cara were so perfect for each other, I know fated mates, but I loved how they both were able to deal with each other's traumas and really help each other heal.

I really enjoyed this and will definitely pick up the 2nd book. I did see that Cara ends up pregnant and they return to Luxiria for help. I also want to mention that this seems to have ran concurrent to some of the original series. Yes Devrix is exiled, but nobody really knows about the compatibility between humans and Luxirians at this point. I can't wait to pick up more Zoey Draven. If you enjoy sci-fi and alien romances, certainly give her a try. She's one of my favorites!

Have you read Wicked Captor?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Wicked Captor, Zoey Draven, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 194 pages, published in 2018

Jack by Layla Fae

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Checking my goodreads for new releases a few Mondays ago, I saw a friend had recently read and loved Jack by Layla Fae. With a little inspiration from Nightmare Before Christmas, I knew I had to pick it up. I was able to use this to cover the Fall in Love prompt published in October. Jack also covers the prompts a dark, dark and stormy night, pumpkin on cover, I put a spell on you, published in October, it's a sign, deal with the devil and #beastmode for Bang in the Night Bingo. Also, I read this during the Smutathon and used it to cover paranormal, takes place on Halloween, monster, 2021 released, novella, new to you author, read in one sitting and supernatural main character.

Suzy is complete another tarot reading about love with good results for her client. Feeling single and alone, she yearns for a love of her own. Or even a good bed partner. After being led by the cards, she summons her destined lover. What shows up is a monstrous jack-o-lantern, there to give her all the pumpkin loving she could want.

This is exactly what it sounds like. A quick smutty read about a weird jack-o-lantern monster man and a lonely, horny older woman. This was just enough ridiculous to be fun. 4-stars is fine for what it is. As I've mentioned before, I rate things differently based on what they are and my emotions. What made it not a 5-star for me was the push for them to get married and have and firm HEA. I feel like this could've worked fine as a HFN or even a straight erotica with no romance. Although, I did really enjoy that his "cream" was pumpkin spice flavored. As a basic person that loves pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavorings, I couldn't not love it!

If you are looking for a quick and steamy Halloween read, look no further. I enjoyed the writing style. She has two other books that have been published and I'm particularly intrigued by The Orc's Bride. It's a longer novella at around 150 pages. We'll see what I end up reading next!

Have you read Jack?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Jack, Layla Fae, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 48 pages, published in 2021

Black FaRoFriday Readthon TBR

Update: My Wrap Up is posted!

 I have a fun week long readathon that I'm hoping to participate in! Back in February of this year was the first FaRoFeb readathon. If you haven't heard of it, FaRoFeb stand for Fantasy Romance February. I know I've mentioned saving some books or ideas I have for next Februrary, but I saw on their instagram they have a new readathon. Partially coordinated with Black Friday sales, they are hosting the Black FaRoFriday readathon. It runs from November 24th and lasts through November 30th. They have a separate section on their website with some blank templates and more! Instead of doing a bingo board, they've posted a checklist which is below.

As you can see there are quite a few prompts to hit. As of now, they haven't posted the full tbr, but I know that there will probably be a lot of the same authors that they celebrated last February. I have a lot of ideas and options, especially after going through what ideas I didn't get to last February as well as fantasy romance ideas I've accumulated since then. There are going to be too many options here, but a lot will still be options in just a couple months, so I'll be referencing this tbr then as well.

🔮 So pretty much one of my go to fantasy romance authors is Grace Draven after bingeing her last February. I still have quite a few of her books to read on her backlist. Outside of picking up some of her standalones, I've also been wanting to start her Bonekeeper Chronicles and Master of Crows series. I know the Bonekeeper Chronicles will count for the gaslamp prompt. She also has her Fallen Empire series that intrigues me.

🔮 Another of my top authors is G.A. Aiken. I keep mentioning that I need to reread her Dragon Kin series and start the spin-off The Scarred Earth Saga. We'll see if I actually get around to starting my reread. This also will work for the witches/vampires/demons/shifters prompt without going into paranormal.

🔮 An author I also read and I know was part of FaRoFeb and a favorite of mine is Juliette Cross. She goes into both the paranormal and fantasy subgenres, but I definitely need to read more of her earlier fantasy works. I read Soulfire for FaRoFeb and need to finish the series. She also has the Vale of Stars which is the sequel series to Nightwing.

🔮 I can also continue my Ilona Andrews reading. I have been reading the Kate Daniels series by them as part of a readalong. There are two novellas that aren't officially part of the readathon that I might try to squeeze in as shorter reads. They are 5.6 and 5.7 of the series. I also want to read more of their books, but I think I just want to focus on one series at a time right now until I'm all caught up!

🔮 Another option is to finally pick up ACOTAR. This is an extremely popular fantasy series and I own the original books in paperback. I know it's incredibly popular and tends to suck people in, so it might be a good option to read over the holiday portion of the readathon. In case you've hidden under the same rock as I've been in, the anagram is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas.

🔮 As some other options, a series I could pick back up Bec McMaster's Legends of the Storm. I read the first book for FaRoFeb as well and just haven't gotten back to it. I also started Alessa Thorn's The Court of the Underworld last FaRoFeb as well. I need to read the last couple books in that series as well as start her spin-off Gods of the Duat. I know book three, Anubis, is planned to come out later this month. She also has her Wrath of the Fae series I need to get to.

🔮 For some quickfire options, I have Laura Thalassa's Four Horseman series (since Death is finally set to be released soon), a recent #WeirdRomanceWednesday recommendation Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan, The Goblin King by Shona Husk, Kristen Ashely's Fantasyland series and C.L. Wilson's Tairen Soul series.

Like I mentioned, a lot of options. I know that it's a holiday weekend, but I tend to be pretty busy with putting up all my Christmas decorations and being one of the crazy Black Friday shoppers. It never gets as bad as you see on the news here. I'm hoping to read 3-4 books at least, but we'll see what happens. I'm super excited to see what all they have planned. If you're participating certainly follow them on instagram and sign up for the newsletter to stay update on all the fun things they have planned for this readathon and FaRoFeb coming up!

Will you be participating in Black FaRoFriday?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Gothikana by RuNyx

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The Ravished by Romance book club choice for October is Gothikana by RuNyx! This was actually on my radar after Crystal from Crystal's Bookish Life read it a little bit ago. She mentioned it would be a good spooky season book. The Bang in the Night Bingo challenge has a gothic prompt and I thought this would be a good option for that as well. It also covers the prompts #banginthenight, full moon on cover/stepback, who you gonna call?, into the woods, black cover, it's a sign and CSI: crime scene investigation. I also applied this to the prompt over 300 pages for Fall in Love. I also read this during the Smutathon and it covered the prompts dark, paranormal, published in 2021, taboo and new to you author.

Corvina receives a letter of interest from a unique college. After dealing with her mother's schizophrenia being diagnosed and put into an institution, she's been living alone on the outside of her town. Having been homeschooled and rarely making contact with the normal society, she decides to accept and attend despite being older than the usual freshman. Once there, things are not what they seem. Students tend to go missing every 5 years as well as many students suddenly killing themselves. Corvina receives clues and starts figuring out the history and lore of the college. Along the way she connects with graduate student and part time teacher Vad.

This was such an atmospheric book and I was really drawn into what was happening at the school and with Corvina. I wasn't expecting it, but there was a lot of deep discussion about various topics. This was such an interesting read. It's hard to say exactly how it made me feel. I loved Vad and how RuNyx kept him mysterious to keep us in Corvina's POV better. Vad was another possessive hero and I was here for it. They were so steamy together and you could really feel the tension between them. There was also an interesting fated mates aspect woven between them.

Why the 4-stars? I just wanted more from the romance aspect. I just felt like there was a good connection between them, but a lot of the connection and discussions between them were just explained as having been happened and not witnessed by the reader. I also thought it was odd that Corvina was very open to tarot, guides, crystals and energies. At the same time she was very against the thought that she might be actually talking to ghosts and not suffering from the same disease as her mother. I just seemed a little off to me for her to be split like that. This was also pretty long, almost too long. It didn't quite feel overdone, but there could've been some things that could've been tightened up.

I still really enjoyed my time reading this and am definitely interested in her other works. She mentions in her author's note that this is different, but I enjoyed the writing style. Not sure when or how long it'll take for me to get to it, but I'm certainly intrigued. I think they are dark romances, so that's fun. It was also cool to see what others took from the story during the live show.

Have you read Gothikana?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Gothikana, RuNyx, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 456 pages, published in 2021

Smutathon Wrap Up

 Time for another wrap up! A last minute join for me at the end of October was the Smutathon hosted by Riley Marie and Laney Kress. In case you missed my tbr/announcement, below is the blank board.

I knew going in I wasn't going for a blackout. One of the prompts was reverse harem and that's not something that I enjoy. The group book was A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon. I read it recently and didn't want to do a reread, but it's a monster reverse harem. Since it was last minute and I was more tailoring my reads to fit prompts to finish Bang in the Night, I just applied them where they fit. I'll go ahead and list them in order read with any prompts they fit!

🌙 Gothikana by RuNyx - dark, paranormal, 2021 release, new to you author and taboo

🌙 Jack by Layla Fae - paranormal, takes place on Halloween, monster, 2021 release, novella, new to you author, read in one sitting and supernatural main character

🌙 Wicked Captor by Zoey Draven - red or purple cover and aliens

🌙 Bite Me, Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann - paranormal, vampire, new to you author and supernatural main character

🌙 Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai - dark, red or purple cover, novella, new to you author and read in one sitting

🌙 Green-Eyed Monster by Elsie Winters - monster, 2021 release, novella, new to you author and read in one sitting

I surprisingly ended up reading 6 books for the Smutathon and did better than I expected. I'll post links to the reviews when they are up. I'm a little sad that I didn't end up covering shifter, but I just haven't been quite as into shifters this season. I had a lot of fun and know they've hosted this readathon before. Hopefully I can more focus on it the next time and look forward to one that's not as Halloween focused. If you missed the live show that was held on Saturday the 30th, it's still available to watch.

Did you participate in the Smutathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley

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The October book for the Smart Women Read Romance exclusive Patreon review was Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley. This is the third book in her Bailey Brothers series. Also, I should mention this was chosen for the prompt of small town romance. I was able to use this for the Fall in Love board 2 prompt new mc in town.

Evan is the reclusive and loner of the Bailey brothers. He owns a cabin outside of town and also has a shop where he rebuilds and makes custom cars. Fiona is the daughter of a repair shop and helps track down cars for purchase as well as hard to find parts. When she finds out her father is getting back with his former dealers that have criminal leadings and finds him sleeping with her friend, she has to get out of there. However, her clutch is going out on her car and she needs a place to fix it. In exchange for allowing her to use his shop and tools, Fiona offers to help find Evan a new car.

Oh my gosh, guys this book. It hit me on so many levels and is one of my favorite books of the year. First off, Evan is one of my top book boyfriends. He is the grump we all need in our lives. I absolutely love that he is all or nothing with Fiona. He's also very possessive and it hits all of my buttons. Fiona is such a sweet and relatable girl. I could connect with her in a lot more ways than I expected going in. She's an admin worker at a family run repair shop (same here, although it's not run by my dad and we do lawn equipment not cars). She struggles with being taken advantage of by her family and whom she considers her friends. She talks to her houseplants and is such a happy and optimistic person.

I'm just getting emotional thinking about how much Fiona and I have in common and these are the kinds of books that really show me why I read romance. I haven't been to open about it lately, but I've been struggling a lot emotionally since about mid-September and this book really helped me. I read romance because I love that it always has a happy ending. Whatever characters go through, they make it out the other side. Guaranteed. This book really gave me a lot of hope and really made me start to consider the relationships I have and how toxic they are, whether family or not. Now, the biggest difference is that I had a great relationship with my Mom. Since she passed away 6 years ago (I can't believe it's been 6 years), that's been a big piece missing in my life. In that way I can connect to her. It honestly just made me grateful that I had those good memories to look back on.

So, this book hit me differently than it probably would others and I don't want to get too emotional with my review. We're already here though and I'm an emotional reader. I love Claire Kingsley writing and I can't wait to read more. The way that the relationship evolved between Fiona and Evan was so well done and felt so natural. Plus I loved his dog Sasquatch and how he immediately took Fiona into their "pack." Even before Evan accepted his feelings. This did feel a little long as well, but I was so wrapped up in their story that while it felt a little long once we hit the 60% mark, there was still so much happening with the plot. None of it felt unnecessary to me.

If you like small town romances and/or the grumpy sunshine trope. I feel like you do get the best enjoyment if you read the Miles Family and this series in order, but enough is explained that you could read it by itself. Before I finish wrapping up, there's one scene I really want to mention. Fairly early on when Evan and Fiona are on the road trip to get his new car, they end up having to share a hotel room and bed. He starts out on the floor and when he hears her trying to settle in the bed he thinks it's odd that his instinct is to ask if she's okay and wants to hold her. That scene made me pause and if I was someone that did highlights and quotes, it would be number one from this book. Seriously, read this book. I already bought Unraveling Him in paperback!

Have you read Unraveling Him?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATSTICS: Unraveling Him, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 460 pages, published in 2020