Dating Your Best Friend's Brother by Lana Dash

⭐⭐⭐💫

During my late night insomnia mini-binge of insta-love KU (Kindle Unlimited) romances, I picked up Dating Your Best Friend's Brother by Lana Dash. This is the first book in her Curvy Girls' Guide series. This worked perfectly to cover the prompt brown on the cover for Fall in Love.

Kelsey and her best friend Charlie are back at home to celebrate his older brother's return to town. They were neighbors growing up and Kelsey has always crushed on Max. After reconnecting at his party, they finally break the tension between them with a kiss. When Max misunderstands the relationship between Charlie and Kelsey, he backs off. Kelsey gets hurt and starts to second guess if Max really likes her.

This was cute and once again I was intrigued by the trope going in. I loved that the best friend was actually a guy. The writing style I definitely enjoyed more than Win a Date with a Cowboy. My biggest issue here was the multiple miscommunications between Max and Kelsey. It was just too many for how short this book was. I also got a little frustrated with how many times in 45 pages that both Charlie and Kelsey had to push against family members that they were just friends and only friends. I feel had there just been the one miscommunication, I wouldn't have been as frustrated, but there were three or four. I did think though that with them having known each other since they were kids helped with establishing a relationship that was believable at the HEA. Well, as long as they can work on their communication!

I'm definitely intrigued to read more from Lana Dash and have had her Sincerely Yours series on my tbr since it came out early 2021. If I'm looking for another quick KU insta-love novella, I might lean more towards picking up one of those, but we'll see what happens. Overall I enjoyed this outside of the miscommunications (which I struggle with in full length novels as well). Definitely check out Lana Dash if you're looking for well written insta-love novella.

Have you read Dating Your Best Friend's Brother?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Dating Your Best Friend's Brother, Lana Dash, 3.5 stars, 0 days, 45 pages, published in 2022, indie published

Summer of Swoon Board 2 Wrap Up

 It has taken me a while to finally get to wrapping up the second board of Summer of Swoon, but better late than never right! Unfortunately with all the life things I had going on in August and despite a strong start, I wasn't able to finish the second board. In case you missed my previous posts about the reading challenge hosted by Shelby, check out my original tbr, wrap up of the 1st board and tbr for the 2nd. Below is the blank 2nd board.

Below is the my final board. As you can see I only managed to cover 17 of the prompts, but at least I got one bingo! I'll go over what I read starting with the top left corner and going row by row. Hopefully if you doing a future version of Summer of Swoon or any other reading challenge or readathon that has a corresponding prompt it'll help give an option for you to pick up! Let's get into it!

🌊 Vacation or Travel Romance - Walking in Fire by Cathryn Cade

🌊 Diverse Hero - Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau

🌊 Orange on the Cover - My Hallowe'en Heartbreak by Melanie Ting

🌊 No People on the Cover - The Lady Chosen by Stephanie Laurens

🌊 New to You Series - Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan

🌊 Yellow on the Cover - Her Unexpected Roommate by Jackie Lau

🌊 Rom-Com - How Sweet It Is by Dylan Newton

🌊 Indie Romance - Gaslight Hades by Grace Draven

🌊 New to You Author - Raze by Tillie Cole

🌊 Tear Jerker Romance - Offside by Juliana Stone

🌊 Booksta Recommendation - A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

🌊 Author with More than 5 Published Books - Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas

🌊 Set in Country or State You Don't Live In - A Captivating Touch by Elsa Winckler

🌊 Photo Cover - Whispers on the Wind by Donna Fletcher

🌊 Cover Model Has Short Hair - Lord of Vampires by Gena Showalter

🌊 New Adult Romance - Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein

🌊 Favorite Trope or Sub-Genre - The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries

Honestly, I'm happy with how much I managed to complete with how much my reading has slowed down this year. I'm super excited to continue doing Shelby's reading challenges and we are about a month through her Fall in Love challenge. It's never too late to join if you're interested!

Did you participate in the Summer of Swoon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Win a Date with a Cowboy by Kate Tilney

⭐⭐⭐

Even though I was in the middle of a reread of Empire of Storms, I had insomnia one night and decided to pick up a couple quickie insta-love novellas available on KU (Kindle Unlimited). The first one I read was Win a Date with a Cowboy by Kate Tilney. This is the first in her Curvy Girls' Bachelor Auction series. I used this to cover the Fall in Love prompt under 300 pages.

Jill is assistant to an up and coming fashion designer in Denver, Colorado. While her boss is up in Aspen, Jill is tasked to attend a local charity bachelor auction to bid on the "cowboy" for a date. Clay is roped into participating in the auction by a friend, but is happy when he sees that Jill is the curvy woman that won his time. When he finds out the truth, he's disappointed. When Jill drops by his ranch to deliver a present for Clay from her boss, they can't help but fall into the attraction they feel for each other.

Okay, I was excited for this book and even more so when I started it and realized it was set in Colorado. While the tropes were right up my alley and I expected an insta-love story going in, this one didn't quite hit me right. It was a little too insta-lovey for me. I just find much more enjoyment and believability in the HEA if at the end of the novella it's more of a we'll start dating seriously or get engaged and plan to have a long engagement. I was just left feeling a little meh about them. I also thought that the "tension" that was supposed to come with Jill's boss having won the date was too forced. It just felt weird overall, especially when we come to find out that her boss was looking at Clay like he was "her's." The writing style and character choices overall just didn't quite elevate the story as much as I was hoping.

While this didn't blow me away, if you are looking for this type of book as a palate cleanser, I thought it was decent. If I'm looking for more insta-lovey novellas in the future, I'd definitely check out the other books in the series and see if one of the other hero archetypes is something I'm interested in. This is one that I'd have to go specifically looking for though.

Have you read Win a Date with a Cowboy?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Win a Date with a Cowboy, Kate Tilney, 3-stars, 0 days, eBook, 51 pages, published in 2022, indie published

Color Me Romantic Quarterly Challenge Announcement

 I am back with another quarterly challenge; I just can't help myself! After taking a break from the Romance Readers Reading Challenges group quarterly challenges (the last one I did was the Taylor Swift Quarterly Challenge), I will be participating in the ongoing one. It started on September 15th, 2022 and will run through December 14th, 2022. You probably already saw from the title, but the theme for this challenge is Color Me Romantic.

Level 1 - Read 5 books

Level 2 - Read 10 books

Level 3 - Read 20 books

Level 4 - Read 30 books

This is a shorter challenge with the highest level and prompts only numbering at 30. Once again, you can read as little or as much as you want. My goal is to reach level 4, but I just tend to read as I go and then see where I'm at when we reach the last couple weeks of the challenge. They also have a bonus option once again that is listed at the bottom of the prompts that can be applied to any level. Let's get to the prompts!

1) Red - Read a book with red on the cover OR a book with a passionate or intense character

2) Yellow - Read a book with yellow on the cover OR a book with a 'sunny' or happy character

3) Orange - Read a book with orange on the cover OR a book with a character who plays or watches a sport

4) Green - Read a book with green on the cover OR a book with a jealous or outdoorsy character

5) Blue - Read a book with blue on the cover OR a book with a character who works in the medical or mental heal fired or a character dealing with a  physical or mental illness

6) Indigo (third eye chakra) - Read a book with a nerdy/geeky/brainy character OR a spiritual romance

7) Violet (chakra connected to enlightenment) - Read a book with a new-to-you author OR a book with an interesting cover

8) Black - Read a book with black on the cover OR with a mystery in the story

9) White - Read a book with white on the cover OR with an innocent or virginial character

10) Gray - Read a book with gray on the cover OR with an older character

11) Silver - Read a book with silver on the cover OR a road trip romance or a story with travel

12) Gold - Read a book with gold on the cover OR with a wealthy character or a character who wants to become wealthy

13) Beige (calm and simplicity) - Read a shorter title OR a book you would want to read while curled up in bed or by the fire

14) Purple - Read a book with purple on the cover OR with a character who is royalty or nobility or deals with someone royal or noble

15) Lavender (floral symbol of love at first sight) - Read an insta-love story OR a book you immediately wanted to read from either the cover, title or description

16) Pink - Read a book with pink on the cover OR with a romantic or loving character

17) Brown - Read a book with brown on the cover OR a shifter story

18) Turqouise - Read a book set on an island OR with water on the cover

19) Mauve - Read a book with clothing on the cover OR with a fashionable character

20) Tan - Read a book set in a rural area or set on a farm or ranch OR with a character who goes on vacation

21) Navy Blue - Read a book with a character in the military or a veteran OR with a boat on the cover

22) Royal Blue - Read a book set in Europe OR with a character who is a 'royal pain' (annoying)

23) Coral - Read a book that has been lingering at the bottom of your tbr pile OR with a genre you don't read often

24) Sky Blue - Read a book with a sky on the cover OR with a pilot or airport in the story

25) Maroon - Read a book with a character who is stranded somewhere OR that is a stand-alone

26) Peach - Read a book set in the South (US) OR with a sweet character

27) Teal - Read a book with an animal on the cover OR in the story

28) Olive - Read a book with a deceptive or sneaky character (or a book you want to read on your e-reader to hide the cover) - I will NOT be using the second prompt - I take issue with the connotation; If you read romance, don't be afraid of what other's may say/think. READ WHAT YOU WANT! No shame!

29) Bronze - Read a historical OR a book that has won an award

30) Mint Green - Read a book with lips or a mouth on the cover OR one you find refreshing

*Bonus: Read a book that contains the name of a color you like either in the title, series name or author's name

Once again I'm hoping that a lot of the books I'll read for the Fall in Love reading challenge and Bang in the Night will help complete most of this challenge. I'm sure there will be a couple other readathons popping up that will help me complete some prompts (there's usually a couple monster or paranormal based readathons in October). Below are a couple option I have that aren't mentioned in what I already have as options from those challenges and my normal tbr/book club books.

🎨 For a broad idea, hopefully at least in the beginning of December I'll be able to pick up some historical romances. Those usually work well to cover quite a few of these prompts, more specifically I'm thinking Bronze, White, Navy Blue, Royal Blue and Purple.

🎨 For the Olive prompt since I disagree with the second half of the option, I'll be looking for a deceptive character. That makes me think of hidden identity or a spy character. A couple options that stand out to me are To Steal a Heart by K.C. Bateman and The Ugly Stepsister by Megan Van Dyke.

🎨 Releasing in October is the 5th book in Juliette Cross's Stay a Spell series, Resting Witch Face. The cover will work perfectly for Yellow or Orange depending on how it'll look in person.

🎨 For Coral and lingering at the bottom of my TBR, my immediate thought was either finally starting my reread of Kerrelyn Spark's Embraced series or finishing Claire Kingsley's Baily Brothers series with Rewriting the Stars.

Not too many options, but definitely check out my other tbrs to see what I might be picking up. To participate, just check out the link to the reader group on facebook above and it'll be listed in the forum section for the quarterly challenges. If you like doing reading challenges, they have lot of different ones with various time frames. Definitely join the group to see what they have going on!

Will you be participating in the Color Me Romantic Quarterly Challenge?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The final book, and recent release, for the Hidden Legacy readalong was Ruby Fever. This is the 6th book in Ilona Andrew's very popular series and also wraps up Catalina's trilogy. The readalong was hosted by Stef, Heather, Megan and Izzy. If you missed the live show for Ruby Fever, I have linked it. I was able to use this to cover warm tone color(s) on the cover for Fall in Love!

Catalina has been working as the Deputy Warden of Houston. When the Warden gets attacked and self-enforces a comatose status at the same time a powerful political figure is attacked, she is made the acting Warden. As House Baylor works to solve the different happenings going on around town, a Russian Prince shows up to cause drama. When a lot of the attacks that have been happening around them end up being attached to the machinations of Alessandro's father's murderer, they have to prepare for war. As they work through the House's survival, old threats come into play as alliances, if not more.

This was such a great book and I thought it was so well wrapped up for Catalina's trilogy. There was so much going on that it's really hard to touch base on everything that happened and avoid spoilers. First off, there is a little less romance between Catalina and Alessandro in this book, but we just get to sit with them as a solid couple. Not that they don't get some alone time, but the romance I feel like isn't quite as important to the story line here. We also get some set up for Arabella's possible match (I know we'll probably have to wait a while before we see any books from her). What really blew me away was the more we learned about Catalina's powers. There was still more depth and nuance than I expected and it was really fun really getting to learn not only more about her powers, but some of the lineage behind it. For the "big bad" in this book, it was handled really well and it really did a good job of not only tying up a lot of the loose threads from Catalina's trilogy, but from Nevada's trilogy as well. I don't want to give spoilers, but this was such a great wrap up of the series to this point.

Just as an aside, if you weren't aware, this was officially the final book for their publishing contract. Ilona Andrews is now going to be indie publishing (as per a couple of their announcements). From an interview I saw, they are planning on eventually doing books for Arabella, but there's no timeline as of now. There are a couple hints and very tiny loose threads where her books could pick up, but I wasn't left feeling like there was still a lot left open for her books.

They hosts are planning on starting another Ilona Andrews readalong for the Innkeeper Chronicles series, but I the plan as of now is for it to start early next year in 2023. Stay tuned to all their youtubes and instagrams for the official announcement. While I would love to continue my binge reading of Ilona Andrews, I think I'm going to wait so I can have them all first time reads for the readalong. No matter what, I can't wait to read more from Ilona Andrews, both in their backlist and whatever they choose to write next!

Have you read Ruby Fever?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Ruby Fever, Ilona Andrews, 5-stars, 0 days, Paperback, 380 pages, published in 2022, traditionally published

August 2022 Wrap Up

 Better late than never right! We are here, mid-September to wrap up the books I read in August. There's been a lot of life stuff going on so I have myself a couple week break, but now it's time to get caught back up! August started out really well with the Romance Takeover Readathon, but then my reading certainly took a dip and things got closer to the end of the month. I was at least able to finish the first bingo board for Summer of Swoon though!

August 2022

💗 I read 13 books for 3,907 pages

💗 I average 1.15 days per book
💗 The average page count was 300.54
💗 I read 3 books in the 100s, 4 in the 200s, 5 in the 300s, and 1 in the 600s

💗 I read 8 books for clubs, readathons and readalongs
💗 4 books had diversity of some kind
💗 I read 5 new authors
💗 I didn't reread any books

💗 I owned 5 books in paperback previously and added 4 to my wishlist
💗 I read 5 books in paperback and 8 in eBook
💗 I read 7 traditionally published books, 3 small published and 3 indie published
💗 I read 2 books published in the 1990s, 1 in the 2000s, 6 in the 2010s and 4 in the 2020s

💗 My average rating was 4.15 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4 books
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 - 2 books
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 4 books
⭐⭐⭐ - 3 books

💗  I read 3 historicals, 3 fantasies, 3 paranormals and 5 contemporary romances
💗 My contemporary breakdown was 1 new adult, 2 rom-coms, 1 sports and 1 normal

1. Walking in Fire by Cathryn Cade ⭐⭐⭐

2. Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood ⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein ⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. Gaslight Hades by Grace Draven ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

5. Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

6. A Captivating Touch by Elsa Winckler ⭐⭐⭐

7. Second Star to the Left by Megan Van Dyke ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

8. Whispers on the Wind by Donna Fletcher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

9. Proof by Seduction by Courtney Milan ⭐⭐⭐

10. Her Unexpected Roommate by Jackie Lau ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

11. Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter ⭐⭐⭐⭐

12. The Pirate Lord by Sabrina Jeffries ⭐⭐⭐⭐

13. Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

💗 It's a hard choice for this month on my favorite, but I think Second Star to the Left just edges out Empire of Storms. My expectations weren't as high for it and it completely blew me away. My most disappointing would be A Captivating Touch. I just really struggled reading that one.

We'll see what September brings, but so far my reading is still a little slow. Hopefully it'll pick back up near the end of the month, but we'll see what I end up getting done. We've got the start of the 2nd annual Bang in the Night starting soon as well as halfway through the first month of Fall in Love.

How was your reading in August?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 Update: I recently reread Empire of Storms (lest than two weeks after finishing it the first time). I was able to use my reread to apply to Fall in Love prompt September Release and Color Me Romantic prompt for Gray (gray on cover and an older character).

One of the assigned books for the August portion of the SJM-along was Empire of Storms. This is the fifth book in Sarah J Maas's popular Throne of Glass series. I was able to use this to cover the Summer of Swoon prompt author with more than five published books for the second bingo board.

Now that magic has returned to the land of Erilea, Aelin and her court are now tasked to reclaim the throne of Terrasen and start planning to go to war with the Valg King. When Aelin is shut-out from her homeland by the current lords, she sets about finding allies and continuing her plan to fight. She and her court are hoping that seeing her actions will change their minds about her character and that she can make a good queen. At the same time Manon is dealing with reconciling the the truth about her grandmother. Travelling the world we see Elide trying to make her way to Aelin to pass along the wyrdkey she received. Lorcan is also out in the world trying to find the wyrdkeys to save Maeve from herself. Maeve also decides to start becoming a player in this war.

Oh my gosh, this book was the culmination of so many things, but yet there is still so much to do throughout the rest of the books in the series. It's hard to say, but I think this might be my favorite in the series so far. We finally get some steamy times and more romantic moments between Aelin and Rowan, as well as a few other couples. I'm having a lot of fun pairing everyone up and am nervous in case Sarah decides to kill someone off. This is going to be hard to review because I want to keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I loved seeing a lot of the people we met during the prequel anthology come back into play. It was just so much fun. We also get some characters we met before fleshed out even more and I love how everyone is being brought together.

This book had such an epic feel throughout and I was so engrossed in what was going to happen. I'm really trying not to do too much predicting while I read (outside of building ships) and I think that's helping my enjoyment. I'm just along for the ride and trying to stay blind to any spoilers. There are times I've been nervous and happy and sad. Sarah really writes in a way that easily draws me in and really has me emotionally invested in everyone's story. I think the way that she's slowly grown the world and cast of characters has been really well done and I'm not having a hard time at all keeping things straight. Also, I thought it was super fun that we started the book with Elide and not Aelin. It was surprising and I really enjoyed kind of starting a little slow with Elide by herself before jumping back into a lot of the action.

I'm so stoked to continue the series and can't wait to see what's coming next. We are jumping back into the ACOTAR series for September, but I'm excited no matter what to continue the SJM-along. If you missed the live show for Empire of Storms, check it out here! I had a lot of fun, once again, and can't wait to see what new information comes to light during the future discussions.

Have you read Empire of Storms?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Empire of Storms, Sarah J Maas, 5-stars, 1 day, Paperback, 689 pages, published in 2016, traditionally published

STATISTICS: Empire of Storms, Sarah J Maas, 5-stars, 9 days, Paperback, 689 pages, published in 2016, traditionally published

Fall in Love 2022 TBR

 Time for a new season! After finishing up Summer of Swoon, it's time for Shelby's fall reading challenge, Fall in Love! It will once again run from September 1st through November 30th. Shelby has a lot of recs and more information on her instagram, but the three bingo boards she created are below.

 

For this TBR I'm going to focus on the first bingo board. I already have made a list for myself with the books I planned to pick up this month (from my September TBR) and which prompts they can cover. For any of the prompts left over, I'll be focusing on ideas for those in particular. I also tried to pick a lot of books I already had ebook copies of or were available in Kindle Unlimited.

🍂 I've seen a lot recently about Kimberly Lemming's Mead Mishaps series. This would work to cover  at least diverse main character, 2021 release and new to you author

🍂 For fall cover I've been intrigued by Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter

🍂 Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen would be a great option for cinnamon roll hero and I've been trying to get to at least that book in her Brooklyn Bruisers series

🍂 Set in Fall is a little harder for me. I could pick up any Halloween set romance, but I'm leaning towards McKenzie's Turn to Fall by Harlow James

For the second board, once we hit October I'm hoping that I'll be able to read books that will work for both this and the Bang in the Night Bingo. It's always helpful when I can get books to work across all the different reading challenges I participate in. Then in November I can focusing on finishing the first board if need be and hopefully the second as well. We'll see what happens! If you are looking for more fall recommendations, definitely check out what I read last year as well!

Will you be participating in Fall in Love?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

The Pirate Lord By Sabrina Jeffries

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The August theme for the Smart Women Read Romance exclusive Patreon review was pirate historical romance. The Pirate Lord, the first book in Sabrina Jeffries Lord Trilogy, was the winner of the poll. I was able to use this to cover the prompt favorite trope or subgenre for the 2nd board of Summer of Swoon.

Sara, the step-sister to an earl, has decided to join a ship headed to Australia. There is a lot of women that were prosecuted for various crimes that are being sent there for their sentence. Sara, as a representative for her charity group, is hoping to do an expose on the conditions that the women face not only on the trip there, but once they arrive. While traveling, they come across Captain Gideon and his rag tag pirate crew. They are planning on setting up a home base and one of the only things missing is women. They decide to take the women to make them their wives. Sara barters with Gideon to allow the women to be properly courted. As Gideon's men work to woo a wife, Gideon woos Sarah. When Sara's relation to the aristocracy is exposed, Gideon is forced to put aside his hate for the upper-class if he wants to keep the relationship.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. For being published in the late 1990s, it was excellent. I also loved the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers vibes. It was really fun to watch not only Gideon and Sara fall in love, but the crew members and women as well. I feel like with so many secondary romances, each reader can have one that is their personal ship (yes I made the pun). It was just so much fun. I really loved how Sara really pushed for the women to have more choice in the situation and how her and Gideon would "barter" between them.

The biggest detractions for me were two big things. I was a little put out and annoyed with the "other woman" situation. I get that the other woman was trying to get the best situation and partner with the captain, but I felt that all three of them could've been more open and cognizant of the situation. The other minor thing that bothered me was Gideon's backstory it handled his hate for the aristocracy. I just wanted more from it overall since it felt kind of addressed at the last minute and not fully fleshed out.

I'm excited to have finally read a Sabrina Jeffries novel and it won't be my last. I am intrigued enough to finish the trilogy, but I've been really wanting to read her Hellions of Halstead Hall series as well. I'm not sure which one I'll pick up first though since I have a habit of not finishing series. We'll see what happens, but either way I can't wait to read more of Sabrina's work!

Have you read The Pirate Lord?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Pirate Lord, Sabrina Jeffries, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 384 pages, published in 1998, traditionally published

Bang in the Night: The Monster Smash TBR

 I can't believe we are almost at fall!

Since we are approaching spooky season, it's time for the 2nd round of Bang in the Night Bingo! This is once again hosted by the ladies that the But Does it Bang? book club, Jacque and Beth! They do have a discord, so reach out to either of them on instagram to join. Once again they are starting the time frame early on September 19th and will run through Halloween! For the 2nd round, they are sub-captioning this round as The Monster Smash. I love it! Below is the blank bingo board followed by some of the tbr ideas I have for this round! Just a note, they do allow you to use a book for up to three prompts, but once again I'm going to try to just use one book per prompt.

🦇 Midnight with the Devil by Emma Castle - perfect for deal with the devils since it has a deal in the book and devil is in the title

🦇 The Liar's Crown by Abigail Owen - new release of hers that has a skull on the cover and also features twins

🦇 Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series - The next book I have to read is No Rest for the Wicked - at the very least it would cover #squadgoals, bite me and full moon on cover

🦇 Serpent's Touch by Marina Simcoe - Monster romance with a male gorgon

🦇 To Date an Immortal by Stephanie Rowe - twins and magic

🦇 Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Has at least twins, vampire and published in October

🦇 Halloween Boo by Sarah Spade - A Hocus Pocus inspired novella with a ghost mc!

🦇 Moonbright, Maine series by Kate Angell - at the very least PSL vibes

🦇 The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling - magic, full moon on the cover and has a cat

🦇 The Vampire's Mail Order Bride by Kristen Painter - A KU vampire romance

🦇 Molly Harper's Mystic Bayou series - a lot of shifters and common paranormal tropes

🦇 I can also finally read the last couple Ice Planet Barbarian books by Ruby Dixon - they have horns

So a lot of my ideas are fantasy, paranormal and sci-fi based since those fulfill the prompts a little easier. I am also hoping to get some fun Halloween and/or fall based contemporaries. Hopefully I'll be able to do quite a few that will cross with Shelby's Fall in Love reading challenge (TBR will be posted this Thursday). Last year they had a spot on the review template for a theme song and I went for only Taylor Swift songs. I haven't decided which artist I'll go for this year, but I'm hoping to use only one artist again. Check out my instagram once the reading challenge starts to see who I ended up choosing!

Will you be participating Bang in the Night?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Needing one more book to finish the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo, I picked up Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter. This is the first book in the multi-author series Royal House of Shadows. It covered the remaining prompt of amnesia, but also worked perfectly for the Summer of Swoon 2nd board prompt cover model with short hair.

After the Blood Sorcerer killed Nicolai's parents and took over their realm, he was cast out. His father cursed him and his siblings with the need for vengeance. Now living as a vampiric sex slave and missing his memory, Nicolai reaches out for the one person to save him. He summons Jane, a human from the other realm (Earth). Jane has been brought across and is now masquerading as the return of Nicolai's former owner. As they escape, Jane and Nicolai struggle with finding out how to get his memory back and what Jane's route is to return to Earth. As they fall in love during their travels and experiences, things aren't quite as they seem.

This was a super fun and quick paranormal novel. I have been wanting to try Gena Showalter's books for a while now and this was a fun introduction. The way that she kept the reader also somewhat in the fog with Nicolai about his past was super fun. I enjoyed trying to figure out what exactly happened and how things went down. Jane was interesting and it was a little sad to hear how tragic her backstory was. Now, I know that a lot of the times when there's a person dealing with moving to a new world or dimension, they don't typically have an idyllic home life, but it was just so sad. Jane and her family were in a horrific car accident where she was the only one that survived, but was left temporarily paralyzed. She has gone through a lot of surgeries and is just starting to really be able to live with full function of her legs. I did like that when there were portions of time where she wasn't moving very much she talked about how her legs were starting to stiffen since she wasn't able to do her normal stretches and wasn't going to her physical therapist. Even though there was a couple scenes that discussed her mobility issues, I did wish that is was something that was more throughout the story.

Now, the four-stars is because I thought it was a little too twisty, especially with the shorter length. There were just a couple too many turns in the plot for my enjoyment. I also feel like the "curse" that Jane received was unnecessary. It just tried to add some extra tension that wasn't really needed with everything else going on. I do have to say, this definitely felt like an old school paranormal with the way it was written, which isn't a detractor for me. I just want to point it out since others might find it to feel old. Since I love early 2000s paranormals though, it felt more nostalgic to me and didn't hinder my enjoyment.

I am so happy to have finally read a Gena Showalter, but definitely want to pick up one of her full length novels. She has a lot of series I'm interested in, but I just need to pick one. My sister has read her for a while, so it's been an author I am peripherally aware of. I've also probably bought a lot of her books as presents for my sister. I think it's finally time I start to dig in to her backlist!

Have you read Lord of the Vampires?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Lord of the Vampires, Gena Showalter, 4-stars, 2 days, Paperback, 288 pages, published in 2011, traditionally published