Fan Fiction Readathon TBR

 Happy Thursday!

Today I have another readathon announcement! Jenn at the Book Refuge has created another readathon, this one for Fan Fiction! She has gotten Tiffany, Mel and Rachel to host with her. It will run November 1st through the 7th. There are some templates on their instagrams, but Jenn once again created a build your own bingo board. There is a 3x3 and 4x4 board available with two pages of prompts.

 

I decided to do 3x3 and my board is below! Now, I used to read a lot of fan fiction, but it's been a minute since I picked one up. I'm excited to get back to it and have quite a few picked out from several different fandoms. I decided to go easy and just pick off of Archive of Our Own (AO3) since they have an option to download a fic as an epub (and then email to your kindle)! Also, I picked the ones I was interested in first and then chose prompts off of what I picked to make things easiest on myself.

📺 Power Over Me by hufflepuff_ish - a Harry Potter oneshot between Helga Hufflpuff and Salazar Slytherin (I love the slytherpuff pairing)

📺 Green Shoots by Jetainia - Another Helga and Salazar oneshot

📺 The Footprints Left Behind by Willow9124 - A Spuffy (Spike and Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

📺 Needs Must by EllieRose101 - Another Spuffy Fic, 5 chapters this time

📺 Sensitive by sweetlikesalt - A 2 chapter SasuSake (Sakura and Sasuke from Naruto) fic

📺 In Times of Peace by SouthSideStory - A 15 chapter SasuSake fic

📺 Long Live the King by SeliniErastis - An 8 chapter fic of Betty and Ice King/Simon (Adventure Time)

📺 Songbird by wurm_food - An Ace (One Piece) oneshot

📺 Manacled by senlinyu - A massive (370k words) Dramoine (Draco and Hermoine) fic - please check any content warnings

A lot of the fics I chose were shorter and I wanted to try to go back to some of my favorites. I mainly used to read Buffy, One Piece and Naruto fan fics back in the day. I'm excited to try Adventure Time for the first time and I will want to at least start Manacled. It's a big one though so I'm not sure I'll get through it all during the week. Although, there is an audiobook available on Spotify via podcast that is through chapter 56 (there's 77 total). I'm excited to get back to some fanfiction. Depending on how long the fic is I might not do a full review for each separately but do a round up. We'll see what happens!

Are you participating in the Fan Fiction Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Love in the Night Wrap Up

 Last week was the most recent round of the Love in the Night Readathon! It was hosted once again by Shae, Stef, Izzy and Laura. Also added to the hosts this round was Heather! If you missed my tbr, check it out for more information, but otherwise let's just get into the books I read! They did a scavenger hunt this round, so I'll mention what clues I found in each book!

🧹 That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Clues: Getting Horny, Eat Her Out, New To You Author

🧹 The Captive Merman's Promise by Zoey Castile
Clues: Unique Paranormal, Diving Deep, Eat Her Out, Toil and Trouble, New To You Author

🧹 No Rest For The Wicked by Kresley Cole
Clues: Unique Paranormal, Diving Deep, Eat Her Out, Drink Me

🧹 Darkest Night by Alessa Thorn [review to come]
Clues: Eat Her Out, Toil and Trouble

I'm happy I was able to meet all the prompts and everything was a joy to read. I'm happy I actually was able to get to the group book this time as well. It's hard to pick a favorite, but it'd either be No Rest For The Wicked or Darkest Night. I loved both so much and can't wait to continue both of those series. Shae mentioned during the live show that they'll mostly like do another round in the spring/summer of next year, so I'll have to try to pay attention since I missed the previous round.

Did you participate in the Love in the Night Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Love in the Night TBR

 Happy Tuesday!

As we get into October, it's time for the next round of Love in the Night! It's once again hosted by Heather, Stef, Laura, Izzy and Shae. The readathon will last from October 9th through the 15th. Instead of doing a bingo board, they opted for another scavenger hunt! Below are the items we are looking to find.

If you are lucky, you could find one book that would cover all or most of the prompts! I'll be mainly focusing on reading books that I'm planning for Bang in the Night and Fall in Love, but that will cross well with those items. I do have more options that I didn't mention in those tbrs as well, so I'll list a couple other things that I might look at picking up during the readathon!

🧹 The group book is The Captive Merman's Promise by Zoey Castile which sounds very intriguing

🧹 I've also been wanting to read April Asher's Not the Witch You Wed. The second book in the series comes out in 2023, so now would be a perfect time to pick it up!

🧹 I've also been wanting to read the fantasy romance series Mead Mishaps by Kimberly Lemming

🧹 A new release that has witchy vibes that I'm interested in is The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Not too many options, but I tried to pick ones that I was already thinking of and hoping that I haven't mentioned before. We'll see what I end up actually reading! Definitely check out all of the hosts (linked above) for more recs and information. They also have a couple instagram templates you could use.

Will you be participating in Love in the Night?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

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🍎

Romance Takeover Readathon - Light v. Dark Wrap Up

 Last week was the latest round of the Romance Takeover Readathon! Jenn went with the Light v. Dark theme this time. I go into more depth during my tbr, so if you missed that post definitely check it out for all the details. The readathon was hosted by Jenn, Crystal, Jessen, Rachel, Christi and Caitlin. Jenn, once again, did a build your own bingo board.

Above is the bingo board that I created. I went a little different this time in my creation and looked at books I wanted to pick up to finish the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo. Once I narrowed down those, I then looked at what prompts they matched from Jenn's list and built my bingo board based off of those. I did a pretty good job sticking to my stricter tbr this time and surpassed my goal of five books! Below is my final bingo board followed by the books I read in order read.

1. Walking in Fire by Cathryn Cade - covered paranormal and foodie

2. Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood - covered friends to lovers, forced proximity and romcom

3. Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein - covered virgin hero, plus sized, new adult and sports

4. Gaslight Hades by Grace Draven - covered 2nd chance and fantasy

5. Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau - covered celebrity

6. A Captivating Touch by Elsa Winckler (was previously published as Touched in the Heart) - covered billionaire

It's hard to choose a favorite, but I think it was either Gaslight Hades or Donut Fall in Love. I'm not too surprised by that though since they are two of my favorite authors in their respective sub-genres. I had a historical I could've picked up Sunday to black out the board, but I was ready to kind of go a different direction and do a little more mood-reading. I had a lot of fun and can't wait for the next round!

Did you participate in the Romance Takeover Readathon - Light v. Dark?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Romance Takeover Readathon Light v. Dark TBR

Update: My Wrap Up is posted!!

 Time for the next round of the Romance Takeover Readathon! This readathon is organized by Jenn at The Book Refuge. She is mashing it together with her older readathon that was Light vs Dark. There is a lot of pieces at play for this readathon, so the best bet would be to check out Jenn's announcement video for all the details for the different factions and way to build your bingo board. It will run August 1st through the 7th. The hosts are Jenn, Crystal, Jessen, Rachel, Christi and Caitlin.

Above is the bingo board I created. As we are reaching the beginning of August, it's time for me to really start finishing up my reading challenges. The one I'm hoping to mostly finish during this readathon is the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo. Since I have just a few prompts, I tried to focus on books that would help me finish out that and chose from the available light and gray prompts for this readathon. I put them on my bingo board at random. I am mostly a mood reader, so this is a stricter tbr than I usually do, but there's a lot going on in August so if I don't want to feel rushed at the end of the month I want to get through my reading challenge prompts as soon as possible. Below, the top few books are what I plan on picking up the rest are hopefuls.

💡 Walking in Fire by Cathryn Cade - should cover foodie, paranormal and possibly age gap

💡 The STEMinist Novellas series by Ali Hazelwood - should cover rom com, forced proximity, friends to lovers, 2nd chance and/or work place

💡 Donut Fall in Love by Jackie Lau - should cover celebrity and foodie

💡 Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein - should cover sports, plus-sized, new adult and virgin hero

💡 Touched to the Heart by Elsa Winckler - should cover sports and billionaire

💡 Gaslight Hades by Grace Draven - should cover fantasy and 2nd chance

💡 Whispers on the Wind by Donna Fletcher - should cover historical and possibly paranormal

Hopefully I'll get to the first couple books, I'm particularly excited excited for Walking in Fire. I could end up picking up other books, especially once other participants start posting their tbrs. I'm excited to participate though and am hoping to get at least one bingo!

Will you be participating in the Romance Takeover Readathon Light v. Dark?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Hockey Champions Readathon Wrap Up

 Happy Tuesday!

My first readathon that I've hosted is officially over. I had a lot of fun trying some new authors and even though you didn't have to read hockey romances for the readathon, they had some extra advantages. I did pick up a couple as well! In case you missed my tbr and what I was planning on reading, you can check it out here. Below is the bingo board I created.

I only used one book per prompt this time. Even though I didn't manage to get a blackout, I did at least get a couple bingos! Below is my completed board followed by the books I read. I'll start at the upper left-hand corner and go row by row.

🏒 GM - Joe Sakic - Character that pulls off something crazy: Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

🏒 Forward - Gabriel Landeskog - Character that's a leader: Persuasion by Jane Austen

🏒 Coach - Jared Bednar - Character that stays calm under pressure: Pipe Dreams by Sarina Bowen

🏒 Forward - Logan O'Connor - Fan-Favorite Author: Sapphire Dreams by Ilona Andrews

🏒 Cup - Book with an HEA: Offside by Juliana Stone

🏒 Defense - Devon Toews - Underrated Author: My Hallowe'en Heartbreak by Melanie Ting

I had a lot of fun and hope that more people participate the next time I host a readathon. If you participated, please let me know so I can check out what you read. I definitely had a lot of fun and it was nice to kind of get away from my scheduled tbr for a little bit!

Did you participate in the Hockey Champions Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Hockey Champions Readathon Announcement & TBR

Update: My wrap up is posted! 

Happy Thursday!

I have a fun announcement today, I have created my own readathon! With my team, the Colorado Avalanche having just won the Stanley Cup, I wanted to celebrate. What better way to do that than with something I love to do, read! I have done an announcement video on YouTube as well as a TBR and recommendations video. I'll also touch on my TBR ideas down below.

The readathon will go from July 10th through the 17th. I plan on mostly hosting it on instagram, so check out my link in the side bar. I'll have all the information saved in my highlights as well as a normal post. I'm not going to go too much into it since I have the posts as well as my video, but I do want to touch base on what I have planned.

It's a build your own roster bingo board. As you can see above there are 9 prompts total. Three of the prompts are the same for everybody, the GM, Coach and Cup. Now is where you build your roster. You will need to select three Forwards, two Defensemen and one Goalie. I have posted the prompts list below. I do go over them all in my video linked above as well as going into why I chose certain prompts for certain players. Outside of those prompts, there are alternatives for each player (all options except for the cup). As you can see in the last photo below, you can also use the players' numbers to clear the square if it is in the publication date, total page number or number in the series. Also, I'm allowing for any hockey romance to clear a square. Technically if you are using a book to cover as many prompts as possible, you could read just one hockey romance and have a blackout!

  

 

Here is the the written version of what I have planned to read as well as who I've chosen for my bingo board:

🏒 I've been working my way through Sarina Bowen's Brooklyn Bruisers series. I plan to read at the very least Pipe Dreams, book 3. If I feel the need to binge, I'll also pick up book 4, Brooklynaire.

🏒 The Rake Appreciation Society is also hosting a bonus live show on July 14th for Jane Austen's Persuasion. I was able to get the audio and ebook versions free through Amazon's Prime Reads. I plan to read the audiobook during the readathon for the live show.

🏒 I also created a spinner wheel to finally pick up a new author that has hockey romances that I haven't picked up yet. Below is what I added:
- On the Surface by Kate Willoughby - In the Zone book 1
- Offside by Juliana Stone - Barker Triplets book 1
- Dirty Secret by Mira Lyn Kelly - Slayers Hockey book 1
- My Halloween Heartbreak by Melanie Ting - Holiday Hattrick book 2
- Change on the Fly by Maren Moore - Totally Pucked book 1

🏒 Also, I added Piper Rayne's Hockey Hotties series to the spinner wheel because I'd like to reread the first couple books before moving on to the newer releases.

There's a lot of options, but I'm hoping to read at least the three books. I am focusing on hockey romances, but like with my plans for Persausion, you don't have to read hockey romance. It's just easier to meet the prompts if you do! I hope you join me in the readathon! I'm nervous since it'll be my first time hosting, but I'm hoping at least a couple people will participate!

Will you be participating in the Hockey Champions Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Historical Romance Readathon Wrap Up

Happy Thursday!

Today we are wrapping up the latest round of the Historical Romance Readathon! It was once again hosted by the lovely Jessica, Lacey and Lisa. The readathon ran from Monday May 9th through the 15th. If you missed my tbr post, below is the bingo board they created.

So, coming into the readathon I was really excited and managed to finish my first book Tuesday night. Then I had a reading slump. I just was dealing with emotional and mental things and needed to spend my time being more actively engaged. I did manage to squeeze in one more book (that's actually a graphic novel) so I at least read two. I'm sad that I didn't read more, but only because I was so excited and as you could probably tell from my tbr had a lot of ideas of books I wanted to get too. Below is my finished bingo board the books I read.

🌺 How to Abduct a Highland Lord by Karen Hawkins - Covered second chance romance, in a series, marriage of convenience, rake, highlander and enemies to lovers

🌺 Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn and Violet Charles - Covered single parent, standalone and clinch cover

Even though I only read two books, I was able to at least get a bingo. Usually I try not to set too high of standards for my readathons and only push my reading for what I want. I just really needed to do what felt right for my mental and emotional health. I usually pick up a few historical romances a month anyway, so I'm not too perturbed about needing to take a break. Hopefully when the next round happens I'll be good to go!

Did you participate in the Historical Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Mafia Romance Readathon Wrap Up

 Happy Tuesday!

This past weekend, May 5th through the 8th was the Mafia Romance Readathon. It was once again hosted by Jenn and her friends Jessen, Jessica, Tiffany, Tori and Madison. She did a building your own bingo board once again. Below is my blank board if you missed my tbr post.

I had originally hoped to get a black out, but ended up only getting two books read. I did manage to at least pick two that gave me a bingo and only one prompt short of a black out. Below is my finished board followed my the two books I read!

🩸 Savage Hearts by J.T. Geissinger - covers Bratva mafia, tattooed hero, captor/captive, next in a series, Irish mafia and outside the mafia

🩸 A Kiss of Venom by Beena Khan - covers Bratva mafia, new to you author, tattooed hero and outside the mafia

Even though I only read two books, I read another really good one that will be at the top of my mafia favorites list! Once reviews have been posted I'll be adding links. I can't wait until the next round and definitely need to try to cycle more mafia and dark romance into my normal reading habits. I just commit myself to too many reading challenges and readathons so they don't always work for the prompts. That's okay though, I enjoy doing them!

Did you participate in the Mafia Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Historical Romance Readathon TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted! 

It's time for another readathon announcement! This time it's for the next round of the Historical Romance Readathon. As always, it's hosted by Jessica, Lisa and Lacey. They've made some pretty instagram templates, so check them out there. It will run from May 9th through the 15th. They usually do a live show on the last day, but I haven't seen an announcement about date and time yet. Below is the bingo board they've put together for this round!

I once again have a lot of ideas, so we'll see what I end up reading. The first two are books that are at the top of my list, followed by books I picked to fit prompts still left open. Then I added what I would read if I went full mood reader. Too many option once again, but I also tried to pick a lot I have in paperback! I also want to note that I will use books for multiple prompts once again.

🌺 The group book chosen for this round is the first book in Julie Garwood's Crown's Spies series, The Lion's Lady. From what I can tell, it will cover in a series, rake, clinch cover, spies, Julie Garwood and flowers on the cover.

🌺 The May Rake Appreciation Society book is The Marquess Makes His Move by Diana Quincy. The meeting is the following Thursday and it would cover at least part of a series, clinch cover and flowers on the cover.

🌺 A Lisa Kleypas I have yet to pick up that is a popular book of hers is Again the Magic. This is the prequel to her fabulous Wallflowers series. It can cover rags to riches hero, 2nd chance and in a series.

🌺 Looking through my paperbacks for a highlander book I hadn't read yet, I found How to Abduct a Highland Lord by Karen Hawkins. It would cover that but also part of a series, marriage of convenience and enemies to lovers.

🌺 Looking for a Western to pick up, I still have to read Lorraine Heath's Rogues in Texas series. The first book is Rogue in Texas and would cover single parent, part of a series and flowers on the cover as well.

🌺 Most of the historical romances I own are apart of a series, so I had to do some digging to find a standalone. I finally stumbled across a recent acquire; Scandalous by Jenna Petersen. This would cover standalone plus rake, clinch cover, marriage of convenience and flowers on the cover.

🌺 The final prompt I had to cover when putting together my list was heiress. This one took a while, but I finally decided on The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan. It would also work for part of a series and indie published.

🌺 Some final quickfire ideas of historicals I want to read regardless of prompts are The Wife Trap by Tracy Anne Warren, The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh and Hitched to the Gunslinger by Michelle McLean.

It'll be fun to jump right from the Mafia Romance Readathon into this one. If you are looking for more ideas, check out my hrreadathon tag to see what I read the previous rounds I've participated in. You could also look at the historical romance tag too! I'm so excited to participate once again and am happy it's in the beginning of the month so I won't have a bunch of book club and readalong books to get to yet!

Will you be participating in the Historical Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Mafia Romance Readathon TBR

Update: Wrap up is posted!

It's that time again for the Mafia Romance Readathon! It's once again being hosted by Jenn, Jessen, Jessica, Tiffany and Tori, but this time Madison is also joining as a host. It will run from May 5th through 8th. Jenn once again created a list of prompts that you can use to create your own bingo board! Below is the list of prompts and a copy of the blank board. She also has more templates on her instagram, so check them all out!

As you can see there are quite a few different prompts. This time when I made my board, I looked at what I most likely will be picking up and made sure to include a couple prompts that would work for those. Then I just added random ones to fill in. Below is my bingo board followed by my ideas!

🩸 My biggest want to read is to get caught up in the Queens and Monsters series by JT Geissinger. I still haven't read book 3 Savage Hearts and book 4 Brutal Vows just recent came out as well!

🩸 I also would like to continue going through Sophie Lark's backlist. I have the rest of the Underworld series to read as well as The Savage.

🩸 Another mafia series I want to continue in is the Five Points' Mob by Serena Akeroyd. 🩸🩸

🩸 I also have several new authors and series I've been intrigued by but haven't picked up. Below is my narrowed down list!
Crow by A. Zavarelli
Paying the Bratva's Debt by Jagger Cole
Raze by Tillie Cole 🩸🩸
A Kiss of Venom by Beena Khan
Bloodied Hands by Adelaide Forrest 🩸🩸

As you can see I have a lot of ideas once again. If you are looking for more options though, check out my tbr from last year as well as from the recent Dark Romance Readathon! Last year I got through 4 books, so I'm hoping I can least get through 3, but 4 would be perfect! It helps we're in the beginning of the month so I'm not set to get through a bunch of book club books.

Will you be participating in the Mafia Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎 

Dark Romance Readathon Wrap Up

 Hello~ Happy Thursday!

Last weekend was the Dark Romance Readathon. It's hosted by Temecka, Heather, Isabel, Ashley and Nayema. It ran from April 15th through the 18th. In cased you missed my tbr post, below is the bingo card they used for the readathon.

Last year I only managed to read one book and with the Easter also going on, that was my goal once again. This time I managed to squeak in 2 books thanks to it running through Monday! Below is my final bingo board and the books I read.

❤ Untouchable by Sam Mariano - covered the prompts touch her and you die, public sex, bad ass heroine and obsessive hero

❤ The Devil and I by Kay Alastor - covered the prompts removal of a body part, touch her and you die, criminal and obsessive hero.

It's been a little bit since I've picked up a dark romance and this was perfect timing to kind of reset my reading brain before cramming in the rest of the book club and readalong books I have the rest of the month. After reading Untouchable I just had to reread The Devil and I and I really enjoyed myself. Coming in early May will be the next round of the Mafia Romance Readathon, so stay tuned for that tbr!

Did you participate in the Dark Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Dark Romance Readathon TBR

 Hello and Happy Tuesday!

I'm back for another readathon announcement, and a little late this time. Somehow I missed the announcement that went up a little bit ago, but it's time for the next round of the Dark Romance Readathon! It's once again hosted by Heather, Isabel, Temecka, Ashley and Nayema. This year they went back to the bingo board layout. The blank bingo board is below. Last year I ended up only read one book for the readathon, but I feel like going into it I'm in more of the mood for Dark Romance and it'll be a good addition to the remaining books I have to read for the month.

Now, below will be a few ideas that I have for the weekend, but I'm not having as many this time. I went more with the mafia route since one of those could easily get me a bingo. I also looked at what prompts I have remaining for the first bingo board of Love Has Sprung and what wasn't already covered by the book club books I have to get through the rest of the month. This has led to a more specific idea list for me than I usually do, but we'll see what happens! I should also mention, there is a unofficial group book that will guarantee a bingo and it's Dark Mafia Prince by Annika Martin. I'm not going to be picking it up, but just thought I should mention it.

❤ One mafia series I haven't picked up in a while is Cora Reilly's Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles. I am planning on going through the reading order suggested on her website so will need to read Bound by Love before finally getting to the Camorra Chronicles.

❤ I also need to read more in Serena Akeroyd's Five Points' Mob series and the next book I have to pick up there is Filthy Rich.

❤ I've also been intrigued by Tillie Cole's Raze for a while but still haven't picked it up yet. She's an author I haven't read yet.

❤ Another new to me mafia author I've been wanting to try is Adelaide Forrest. I want to start her Bellandi Crime Syndicate series and the first book is Bloodied Hands.

❤ Getting out of the mafia books, the only other dark romance I'm looking at is Untouchable by Sam Mariano. It's a favorite of Jenn's and I've been wanting to read it for a while. Just haven't been in the mood. Maybe now's the time to pick it up!

Hopefully I'll be able to get through at lease one book again, but I'm hoping at least two or three. It's also Easter weekend and I have plans on Saturday and Sunday, but we'll see what I can get done!

Will you be participating in the Dark Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Winter's Kiss Bingo Board 2 Wrap Up

Happy Thursday! I'm here to do a quick wrap up for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss. The seasonal reading challenge was hosted by Shelby on instagram and ran from December 1st 2021 through February 28th, 2022. In case you missed my previous posts, I did an original tbr, wrap up for board one and tbr for the second board. The blank board is below.

This board was a little tougher for me and there were a few prompts I had to stretch a little to meet as well as think outside my normal reading habits. While that's one thing I do enjoy about doing these challenges, I did have to push myself to finish it on time. I crammed in quite a few novellas the last few days, but I at least picked up a couple I've been saving for a "rainy day." I'll go ahead and list them out below, starting with the top left corner and going row by row as always!

🌲 Disability or Chronic Illness Rep: Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

🌲 Person Wearing a Hat or Sweater on the Cover: Level Up by Cathy Yardley

🌲 Holiday Novella: Teased by Tinsel by Molly O'Hare

🌲 Book Set in Winter: A Very Beery New Year by Jackie Lau

🌲 Billionaire, CEO or Businessman Hero: Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson

🌲 Gray on the Cover: Magic Stars by Ilona Andrews

🌲 Atypical Sports Romance: Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon

🌲 Book You Recently Acquired: Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

🌲 Romance Shelby Rated 5-Stars: Taming Hollywood's Baddest Boy by Max Monroe

🌲 Holiday Romance: Sunday's Child by Grace Draven

🌲 Book You Want to Read Before the New Year: Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

🌲 Forbidden Romance: Enthralling the Orc by Tracy Lauren

🌲 Read a Book Shelby Made a Post About: One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle

🌲 Starts with the Letter W: West End Earl by Bethany Bennett

🌲 Read a New Release: Broken Chains by Demelza Carlton

🌲 Set in Canada: A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau

🌲 Book by a New to You Author: Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas

🌲 Book That Doesn't Get Much Hype: Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan

🌲 White on the Cover: Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews

🌲 Book with Cursive and Print Lettering on the Cover: Teased by Fire by Molly O'Hare

🌲 Book with Wintery Cover: A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas by Jackie Lau

🌲 Get a Rec from a Booksta Friend: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

🌲 Starts with the Letter K: Kraev by Sonia Nova

🌲 Grumpy & Sunshine Romance: Beard Science by Penny Reid

🌲 Romance Published in 2021: Warrior's Regret by November Dawn

I feel like I got a good mix of subgenres with this board and read a lot of really good books with it! I'm so excited to see what I end up reading for Love Has Sprung (which started March 1st)! If a review isn't linked, it will be added as I post them. I hope if you are looking at prompts for other readathons this will help give you ideas. If you're participating in any of the seasonal reading challenges and want to see what I'm reading in more real time, follow me in instagram. I try to stay current with my bingo boards and save everything in my stories!

Did you participate in Winter's Kiss?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

FaRoFeb Wrap Up

Hello! I am here to do my wrap up for FaRoFeb! I had a lot of fun again this year, even though I didn't read quite as much as before. In case you missed my tbr post, below is the blank bingo board I used.

Originally I was hoping to do both bingo boards they premade, but I only ended up getting the one finished. I read a lot of new authors which was fun and also was able to vary the kind of fantasy I read as well. I'll post my finished board below and list the books read starting with the top left corner and going row by row.

🔮 Low Fantasy: Warrior's Regret by November Dawn

🔮 FaRoFeb Author: Sunday's Child by Grace Draven

🔮 Has Your Favorite Trope: Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews

🔮 Has Something You Love to Hate: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan

🔮 Post Your TBR: Done ✔

🔮 New Release: Broken Chains by Demelza Carlton

🔮 Love the Cover: Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan

🔮 Indie Author: Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews

🔮 Epic Fantasy: Enthralling the Orc by Tracy Lauren

I enjoyed almost every book that I read which was great! All links lead to my reviews, and somehow I managed to get them all posted before the wrap up this time! I can't wait for next year and hopefully I'll be able to get through a little more. We'll see what happens. I'll definitely continue to pick up fantasy romance throughout the year though like always!

Did you participate in FaRoFeb as well?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Love Has Sprung TBR

Update: Wrap Up for the 1st board is posted! 
Update: My wrap up is posted for the 2nd board!

As we approach the end of February, it's time to start looking forward and into Spring! Shelby is once again hosting her Spring reading challenge Love Has Sprung. The reading challenge runs from March 1st, 2022 through May 31st, 2022. She once again made three bingo boards. I will have all three below, but for more specific tbr ideas I'll be focusing on the first board's more unique prompts. If you would like to join, Shelby has everything on her instagram and said she will also be doing some recommendation posts.

 

If you are looking for more recommendations that could fit these prompts, feel free to check out my previous tbrs and wrap ups for the other reading challenges I've done by Shelby. I've participated in her Summer of Swoon, Fall in Love and Winter's Kiss challenges. Well, let's get into the ideas that I have!

🌷  For quite a few of the prompts, they require looking at what Shelby has read and loved. You can check out her instagram (linked above) or check out her goodreads. I know that they could cover a lot of the various prompts, but some authors I know she enjoys are Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Meghan Quinn and Melanie Harlow.

🌷 There's also going to be some prompts that will be easily met by new releases coming out, specifically in March. I did a quarterly anticipated reads that you can check out. For books that were announced or I discovered after writing that post, I'm also looking forward to The Savage by Sophie Lark, Her Favorite Rebound by Jackie Lau and Rewriting the Stars by Claire Kingsley.

🌷 For my book clubs, I know I will be picking up The Proposal by Mary Balogh and Burn by Suzanne Wright at the very least. These could work for several prompts, including new to you author, two-word title, 1st book in a series, updated or redone cover and backlist romance. I'll also be starting the spin off of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, Aurelia Ryder.

🌷 For slow burn immediately Marian Zapata comes to mind. She's known as the queen of slow burn. I've only read one of her books, but I have been wanting to pick up From Lukov with Love since it's about two figure skaters.

🌷 Another specific prompt is foodie romance. I have quite a few options on my tbr, but I'm thinking of picking up The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson. I first heard about it when Smart Women Read Romance did a podcast episode on it and still haven't gotten around to it.

🌷 When I was going through some trope lists on goodreads, I had a few books that kept popping up that I might try picking up as well. The couple that stood out the most to me are Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie and Faking Ms. Right by Claire Kingsley.

🌷 The last prompt I want to chat about is books that start with R. I do have quite a few (a lot) that start with Rake or Rogue on my kindle. When I looked at what I had physically to read still, I saw Rules of Engagement by Kathryn Caskie. I might go for that one so I can get another physical book off my tbr!

I can't wait to see what I end up reading for the prompts. Since starting Shelby's challenges my reading taste has widened quite a bit and I've picked up a lot more contemporary romance. If you are participating as well, let me know! If you don't follow me on instagram, please do so and let me know so I can follow you back! I'll be posting updates as I read each book and saving it in my stories like always, so feel free to check them out at any time.

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Winter's Kiss Board 2 TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted! 

Happy Thursday! I am finally moving on to the second board in the Winter's Kiss reading challenge! The event runs from December 1st, 2020 through February 28th, 2021, so you still have time to join. Shelby is the host and creator and has all the information on her instagram. If you are looking for more ideas, check out my tbr for the first board as well as the wrap up! Below is the blank board if you haven't seen it yet.

Over the past almost two months, I have been able to apply books I read to this board that didn't work for remaining prompts, so I do have some spots already covered. Below is my current board. Since January is almost over, I'm planning on looking at what prompts I won't be able to use for FaRoFeb and try to get them in before February starts. I have quite a few ideas so I can mood read a bit too.

🌲 I recently picked up Elizabeth Harmon's Pairing Off. It's the first book in her Red Hot Russians series set around figure skating. I loved it and definitely want to read more. They would cover several prompts, including the more unique of atypical sport romance, underhyped, and model wearing sweater or hat.

🌲 A go to author for me is Jackie Lau. I have several of her books I could pick up that would help cover holiday novella, set in winter and set in Canada.

🌲 There are a couple prompts that are also related to Shelby and her reads. She has a couple favorite authors that I still haven't tried yet and have been happy with the recs I've gotten before. Two of the ones I'm intrigued in picking up are Melanie Harlow and Meghan Quinn. I also want to pick up more of Max Monroe and Eve Kasey.

🌲 For disability or chronic illness rep I had one book immediately jump into my mind that I've been wanting to pick up; Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks. I have it in paperback and need to get to it soon. I've heard such great things about it. I do have a couple other options on my tbr as well, but Maya is at the top of my list right now.

🌲 For the holiday and winter prompts, I want to try to stay away from the Christmas books. With Valentine's Day coming up, I looked into some Valentine's timed romances and had a couple marked as to read on my goodreads. A couple that stuck out to me were Love Kinection by Jennifer James and A Little Bit Cupid by Jennifer Shirk.

I don't have too many options here since I'm going to get as many books that I read for FaRoFeb also fit into prompts here were able. There were a few that were a little more specific, so I tried to focus on those for this tbr. We'll see if I can get through the remaining prompts by the end of February! I sure hope so.

Are you participating in Winter's Kiss?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎