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🍎

Merry + Bright Readathon Wrap Up

 Happy Thursday! Yesterday ended the Merry + Bright Readathon hosted by Chandler, Zoe and Spencer. They had a list of 5 prompts and the readathon went from Dec 9th through the 15th. If you missed my tbr post, I'll show you the original prompts below!

As you can see, they are all based on holiday themes and songs! Since this overlapped with the Historical Romance Readathon, I tried to read books that would work for both sets of prompts! I ended up being able to pick up a couple more books after then and they ended up working for the remaining prompts! I saw that Zoe had a tbr story template on her instagram, but I ended up using it as a this is what's read. I'll show my completed story below and list out the books read in order starting at the top left corner and going row by row!

🎄 Winter Wonderland (white on cover) - Loving the Mountain Man by Adriana Anders

🎄 Hot Cocoa (cozy vibes) - One Naughty Christmas Night by Janet Berry

🎄 Elf on the Shelf (already owned) - Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret

🎄 Last Christmas (purchased last year) - My American Duchess by Eloisa James

🎄 The Grinch (enemies to lover or unreliable narrator) - The Front Runner by Elsie Silver

🎄 Baby It's Cold Outside (dual perspective) - Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett

I think that my favorite read is hard to choose, probably either Any Rogue Will Do or The Front Runner. They were both so captivating and had me hooked from the start. I had a lot of fun participating even though I only participated tangentially. I loved the name of the prompts and how easy they were able to meet. While specific prompts can be fun and get me out of my comfort zone, this was perfect for this time of year when my reading time is short and I want to do more mood reading. I can't wait to see what readathons they do next year!

Did you participate in the Merry + Bright Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Black FaRoFriday Wrap Up

 The last week of November was the Black FaRoFriday Readathon! It was hosted by the same ladies that do FaRoFeb, Fantasy Romance February. If you haven't heard about it before, check out their website. They also have monthly emails with new and upcoming releases and my tbr always increases when it comes! I was hoping to cover most of the prompts and to get through a few books, but I ended up not reading much over the Thanksgiving holiday. There was a lot going on and on top of that things at my morning job have been really stressful lately and I really needed the time off to recover. Also the first book I picked up was almost 500 pages and took longer for me to get through than expected. In cased you are seeing this after the fact, check out my tbr if you are looking for more fantasy romance ideas/recommendations! Below is my final checklist! Then I'll list out books read in order that I read them.

🔮 Wildest Dreams by Kristen Ashely - Covered new to you author, been on your tbr for a while, post a cover pic and tag FaRoFeb, epic fantasy, and witches.

🔮 The Undying King by Grace Draven - Covered post a cover pic and tag FaRoFeb, epic fantasy, historical setting and witches.

🔮 Retribution Clause by Ilona Andrews - Covered gods/mythology, buddy read, post a cover pick and tag FaRoFeb, portal fantasy and witches/shifters.

I had a lot of fun focusing on fantasy romance before getting into my historical and holiday/winter reads this month. I just wish that I had more reading time. I'm still happy with how many prompts ended up getting covered. February will be here before we know it and I can't wait to read more from all of these authors. My favorite would be The Undying King. I love Grace Draven and really enjoyed the novella. Her creativity and world building just blows me away more and more with every read. She's not only one of my favorite fantasy authors, but becoming one of my favorite authors. Period.

Did you participate in the Black FaRoFriday Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Merry + Bright Readathon TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted!

So... I said I might be backing off on doing readathons this month, but I have another one I'm going to tangentially participate in. One of my favorite booktubers that reads more than just romance is chandlerainsley. (Side note, follow her on instagram for the best fluffy kitty photos). She is hosting the Merry + Bright Readathon with Zoe and Spencer. It will run Thursday December 9th through the 15th.  The have some reading prompts which I'll show below. There's no bingo board or anything, so that's helpful. Since I was planning on reading some winter/holiday romances this month anyway, I thought I could focus on those during this readathon. There's also some instagram photo prompts and more info on their instagrams.

🎄 This readathon starts during the Historical Romance Readathon (which runs through the 12th). I had a few holiday and Christmas ideas for that one, including the group book Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish. I'm going to try to shift those option to later in the week so it can easier cover prompts for both readathons. I'm also hoping that I can get books that'll work for both readathons as well as prompts from the Winter's Kiss reading challenge.

🎄 Looking at some releases from 2020 that I purchased pretty quickly after release, I came up with a quite a list, but only pulled a few of the ones that sounded the best at this time. I have a couple historical options: Any Rogue Will Do by Bethany Bennett, A Good Duke is Hard to Find by Christina Britton and A Duchess a Day by Charis Michaels. 

🎄 I also have the SmartyPants Romance releases that came out in spring 2020. For some other contemporary options, I was also thinking maybe Not My Romeo by Ilsa Madden-Mills, Dear Ava also by Ilsa Madden-Mills and Space Junk: Houston We Have a Hottie by Sara L Hudson.

🎄 For a recent Christmas release that I have I might look at picking up No Ordinary Christmas by Belle Calhoune since I bought it upon release. A lot of books on my tbrs are in eBook, so I'd like to get at least a couple of the Christmas/Holiday physical books I have read this month.

My tbr/idea list is a lot shorter this time, but I could use almost anything from the other two readathons that will be happening at the same time. Like I mentioned before, I'm  not going to necessarily go out of my way to hit all the prompts, but depending on how things sit after the Historical Romance Readathon I'll see what prompts I have left. Thankfully the hosts went with more generic prompts that have seasonal names!

Will you be participating in the Merry + Bright Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

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🍎

Love in the Night Round 3 Wrap Up

 So we come to the end of another weekend readathon. This past weekend was the third round of the Love in the Night Readathon. It's hosted by Shae, Crystal, Izzy, Stef, and Laura. Shae mentioned there might be a live video this upcoming weekend, but I haven't seen anything posted yet. I could've have missed it.

So I went into this weekend with the best intentions. My goal was 3 books, easily doable especially with the readathon lasting through Monday. Friday night, I didn't get the chance to read. I had looked earlier in the morning for an audiobook to listen to at work, but none of the shifter romances I wanted to read were available in my library apps. Okay, no worries, we still had all day Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, I again did not pick up a book. I ended up starting a new project that morning and by the time I sat down in the afternoon, I just wanted to zone out. I ended up half-watching some soap tutorial videos on YouTube, thank you Royalty Soaps. Do I make soap? Nope. Do I want to make soap, not particularly. I do enjoy Katie's videos and how positive she is. I haven't stayed up to date on most of the youtubers I try to follow, so kind of went on a binge.

Sunday started out with my normal chores, made pancakes for breakfast (and the week). I finally got a chance to read about 12 noon, just a couple hours before the Bronco game. I managed to read the book I started that night and was able to cram in a novella Monday night during and after the Avalanche game. So I only read 2 with my goal having been 3, but that's okay. I read two books I really liked and didn't want to force myself to read something when I wasn't in the mood. But let's shift gears. My minor wrap up is below!

1. Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews. This covered the scavenger hunt clues fated mate, alpha male, what big teeth you have and shift, baby shift!

2. Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews. This covered the clues fated mate, what big teeth you have and shift, baby shift.

Just two books, but for a busy weekend I'm still happy that I was able to at least read these two. The third book I had planned was to just pick up a shifter book (since those seemed to cover all the clues better), so I don't feel too bad about not meeting my tbr. The two books I had to read this weekend, were done. The reviews will be linked as they are posted! I'm a little sad it was only a weekend long readathon, but with so many other events happening, I'm just trying to pick books that cover prompts in each one.

Did you participate in the Love in the Night Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Love in the Night Readathon Round 3 TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted!

Happy Saturday!

I can't believe it's already the last weekend in September and October is just around the corner. That means it's spoopy time! I love Halloween, but the lighter side of it. If you don't already know, I'm not one for horror. It just doesn't work for me. Hell, there was a really good kdrama a few years ago called The Master's Sun (which I adored), but had a friend of mine watch with me to help calm me from the scary ghost stuff. Let's be honest, it wasn't that scary, but I did need assistance. So yeah, wimp supreme here.

But back to the readathon. Love in the Night is back for round 3! It's hosted by most of the same hosts, Shae, Izzy, Crystal, Stef and Laura. This time they are going for a long weekend, with the readathon running from Friday October 1st through Monday, October 4th. I'm happy to have another weekend readathon that includes both Friday and Monday! Since it's a shorter time, they are doing a scavenger hunt instead of a bingo board. The "clues" are below!

As you can see, there are only 5 prompts. If you read just one shifter book over the weekend, there's a pretty good chance you'll meet all the prompts. I'm hoping to get through 3 over the weekend, but we'll see what happens. I'll also be looking to get some prompts covered for Fall in Love and Bang in the Night Bingo! Check out those tbrs for more ideas, but I'll also list some tailored ideas below!

🐺 I've been participating in the Kate Daniels readalong, so I'd like to read at least the next book I have since the next live is October 15th. Another Ilona Andrews option is her The Edge series since I've been really into her writing recently.

🐺 Another author I want to get through more of the backlist of is Juliette Cross. I can continue in her Nightwing (dragon shifter) series, or pick up her Vampire Blood series. I've also been wanting to reread Stay a Spell as well, so that's another option.

🐺 More reread options I have is G.A. Aiken's Dragon Kin series. I've been wanting to reread it for a while now, but I just haven't picked it up. I know her newer series, The Scarred Earth Saga, is a spin-off or related. She also writes under the name Shelly Laurenston and writes a lot of shifter romances. I loved the Pride series and have been wanting to reread it as well. Or I can finally get around to starting her Honey Badger Chronicles series (with honey badger shifters, which are introduced in her Pride series).

🐺 I can also pick up one of my favorite paranormal authors, Molly Harper. The next book I have to read in her Half-Moon Hollow is Nice Werewolves Don't Bite Vampires. Or I can finally start her Mystic Bayou series.

🐺 Another series I can continue is one of Felicity Heaton's. I know the next book I have in her Eternal Mates series is about a dragon shifter. I also want to finish her Cougar Creek Mates series so I can get to her spin-off, Black Ridge Bears.

🐺 If I'm looking for a new author to pick up, I saw that Gena Showalter's Atlantis series has shifters. Another author would be Terry Spear and her Heart of the Wolf and Highland Wolf series. There's also Shana Abe's Drakon series with dragon shifters. I've also been wanting to start Kristen Ashley's Fantasyland series since Smart Women Read Romance did an episode on book 2 recently. I can't quite figure out if the first book is about a dragon shifter, or someone with dragon affinity though. I'm also interested in trying Celia Kyle's Bears of Grayslake series.

🐺 Some other options I have are picking back up Vicki Lewis Thompson's Wild About You series. I've read the first couple books a few years ago, so I'd want to reread those before moving forward. I also want to pick up the next Immortals After Dark book by Kresley Cole. The last idea I have right now is Alanea Alder's Bewitched and Bewildered. The next book I have is book 3, which is about a wolf-shifter.

So I have a lot of options and ideas, almost too many for the weekend readathon. With a shifter focus, I almost went too crazy looking at my series to continue lists and lists on goodreads. I have really come to appreciate shifters after growing up a vampire girl. I certainly prefer romance novel shifters, that's for sure. The family focus, touchy-feely shifters just do it for me. Plus I love alphas, so it hits a lot of my buttons. 

I think for sure I want to read at least one Kate Daniels book, but I might save it for the end of the weekend. I know I'll end up wanting to binge the next books. I'd like to read at least two different authors, but we'll see what happens! If you'd like more options, check out my tbr and wrap up from round 2! I'll be updating in my stories like usual if you want more updated real time.

Are you participating in Round 3 of the Love in the Night Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Dark Romance Readathon Wrap Up

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

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

🔍 Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

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

Did you participate in the Dark Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Dark Romance Readathon TBR

Update: Wrap Up is posted!

Happy Friday!

I have another readathon announcement! Next weekend, August 13-16th will be the Dark Romance Readathon. It's hosted by Temecka, Izzy, Heather, Nayema, and Ashley. There are, as per usual, templates on their instagrams. There is no group book, live show or bingo board this time. There's also no hashtag. To change things up a little, instead they are doing a scavenger hunt! I've posted the 6 hints(?) below. It's nice that they included Friday and Monday into the readathon. I've been reading a lot of dark romance this year and am excited to get into more. As with my previous readathons, I'm not going to do a strict tbr, but post several ideas and sees where my mood takes.

Since there are only 6 prompts and it's a scavenger hunt, I feel like this readathon will be a lot more easygoing. I know that sometimes people get stressed when there's a bingo board, especially with shorter readathons like this. If you find the right book, it could cover all the prompts at once. I'm not going to aim for all prompts and just want to read what I feel like, without really considering the prompts in my choices.

🔍 A dark romance that's been on tbr for awhile is Untouchable by Sam Mariano. Jenn (The Book Refuge) talked a lot about this last year and I've been intrigued. It's a bully romance set in high school, but I've heard that they are more mature and high school is just a facilitator for keeping them in close proximity.

🔍 I have several mafia series I'd like to continue: Maggie Cole's Mafia Wars, Cora Reilly's Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles, Serena Akeroyd's Five Points' Mob, and Sophie Lark's Underworld series. I have started the first couple books for almost all of these and need to get caught up and/or finish the series.

🔍 I also have several new mafia series that I've found since I started really getting into this sub-subgenre. I've heard good things about A. Zavarelli's Boston Underworld, Tillie Cole's Scarred Souls, and Kristen Luciani's Sinfully Savage series. I've also stumbled across Faith Summer's Dark Syndicate and Jagger Cole's Bratva's Claim series. I'm intrigued to start all of these and start to expand my mafia/dark romance authors. 

🔍 Another option if I get far enough in the reading order is the start Cora Reilly's Camorra Chronicles. Cora Reilly also has some standalones set in the same universe.

If you've been following my reads for a while now, you know that most of my recent dark romance reads are actually mafia. Most of my options for the readathon are as such. I'm not sure how much of these I'll actually get too, but I'd like to read 3 books. One continuing a series, one starting a new series and then either Untouchable or another dark romance that's not mafia related. We'll see where my mood takes me. I might end up doing a spinner wheel for the two mafia options. 

I'm 99% sure I won't meet Whose Limb is This? clue since I don't enjoy poly relationships. I'm just not into thruples or threesomes and such. There could end up being such a scene in one of these, but I'm not particularly looking for it. One big thing I enjoy about dark romance is how obsessive and possessive the heroes get about their heroines. You don't usually see multiple partners in those relationships. I do know there are quite a few reverse harem series and poly dark romances out there. They just don't interest me. I'm excited to have another reason to go on another dark romance binge! I'll be posting my updates in my instagram stories as usual, so feel free to follow along if you'd like!

Will you be participating in the Dark Romance Readathon?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎