Warrior's Regret by November Dawn

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Getting back to my FaRoFeb prompts, I went looking for a low fantasy read. Since I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to pick up next, I checked out FaRoFeb's website to see what was on their TBR list for low fantasy. One of the options was Warrior's Regret by November Dawn. I had remembered this from their newsletter and had added it to my tbr. This is marked as the first book in her Demon Hybrid Warriors series. I also used this for the romance published in 2021 prompt for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss.

Aster has finally hit a point where she's over dating and wants to find her mate. For demon hybrids, there is a DNA test that will connect two mates, if they've both taken the test. When she arrives for her results, she has a match! While Aster waits to meet her match in an interview room, she hears a loud argument and is soon told that her mate has chosen to not meet her. Cole is one of the top warriors for demon hybrids and is currently and instructor. When his friends unknowingly test him for a mate and trick him into showing up, he reiterates his stance that he is not interested in having a mate or a relationship. A few weeks later he becomes curious and suggests Aster for a supplies manager position at his base. When she gets the job and decides to take it, he takes the chance to observe and learn more about her. When he can't seem to stay away, they both struggle with their budding relationship.

Guys, this was soooo good! Honestly, there was so much here that I was a little surprised it was less than 200 pages. I think that there was so much here, and while I wanted more, it didn't really feel lacking to me. From what I can see this is November Dawn's first book and what a great debut! I loved the small moments between Aster and Cole and just loved how they were so comfortable with each other when sitting in silence. I could really feel the fated mate connection. Since it is fated mates, it's definitely a little more on the quick side, but I give (a lot) of leeway for this trope. They still took it slow overall.

I loved Cole's POV and how he kept adjusting how much he wanted from Aster. At first he just wanted to get her a stable job and somewhere he could more easily protect her if needed. Then he just wanted to observe her and make sure she's doing okay. That quickly turned into just meeting her and giving her a tour of the base and then giving her self-defense lessons. The tension between them was built so well. I think the only reason I couldn't go all the way to 5-stars was I wanted a little more of the steamy scenes. It was also a little predictable, but at the same time it there were some mature responses from Cole or Aster.

I can't wait for more in this series and to see whatever November Dawn writes in the future. There weren't really too many hints on who the future books might be about, so I'm even more intrigued on what's to come. If you're looking for a new fantasy author, definitely check out Warrior's Regret. I really enjoyed it!

Have you read Warrior's Regret?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Warrior's Regret, November Dawn, 4.5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 147 pages, published in 2021, indie published

The Beast of Clan Kincaid by Lily Blackwood

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The February book chosen by patreon members for the exclusive Smart Women Read Romance review was The Beast of Clan Kincaid. This is the first book in Lily Blackwood's Highland Warrior series. This was actually the book I recommended and I was happy it won. This was a rare book that didn't count for any of my readathons or reading challenges.

After Niall "The Beast" returns to his father's castle after the murder of most of his clan, he's looking for revenge. Niall has been working as a mercenary and has finagled the chance to be the new merc for hire for the Laird of MacClaren. When he arrives, he is immediately drawn to Elspeth, the laird's eldest daughter. When Elspeth is required to start seriously choosing a husband, she fights against her desire for Niall.

The best way to explain my rating for this book would be that it feels like a debut. There were some intriguing parts and some interesting plot points, but overall it just didn't all culminate together. I did like the overall chemistry between Niall and Elspeth, but there were some odd choices made. The best way for me to describe it is that I wanted Elspeth (and her father) to just pick a lane. She kept bouncing back and forth and it happened just a few times too many. There were also some classic twists and tropes used and it just felt like too much.

I really enjoyed the overall plot though and the idea that it felt a little different than the usual highlander tropes while still fitting the genre. I don't know why, but it kept surprising me and showing a glimmer of uniqueness, but then something too stereotypical would happen. I feel like I could point more things out that bothered me, but despite all of those I did enjoy the book overall.

I'm certainly intrigued to read the other two books in the series about Niall's brothers. I'm a little sad to see that it seems these three books are all that Lily wrote. I was looking at her twitter and she didn't post anything from 2018 until 2021, and since she came back has just mainly retweeted some other author's posts. I hope she does plan to write more eventually because I'm intrigued and would love to see how her writing evolves. Juliette did mention that she was reading the next book during the live show and was enjoying more than this one so far. I'll definitely be adding the rest of this series to my highlander spinner wheel!

Have you read The Beast of Clan Kincaid?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Beast of Clan Kincaid, Lily Blackwood, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 318 pages, published in 2016, traditionally published

February 2022 Wrap Up

 Happy March! I can't believe we're already two months into 2022! It goes so quickly.

Let's be honest. I had a lot of plans for February and I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I was wanting and planning. We had the Olympics, a lot of hockey make-up games, Celebrity Big Brother and my boss got me into Married at First Sight. Yeah, that's a lot of tv time for me. Especially lately it's usually just a couple of shows and hockey, but not lately. We saw FaRoFeb throughout the month plus I wrapped up Winter's Kiss. My wrap ups for those should be posted next week. My stats aren't too bad though because I crammed in a lot of novellas to finish the month strong! Well, let's get into it!

February 2022

💗 19 books read for 4,928 pages

💗 I averaged 0.63 days per book
💗 The average page count was 259.37
💗 I read 2 books less than 100 pages, 6 books in the 100s, 1 book in the 200s, 8 books in the 300s and 2 books in the 400s

💗 I read 10 books for clubs and/or readathons
💗 8 of my books were diverse
💗 I picked up 8 new authors
💗 I reread 1 book

💗 I previously owned 1 of the books in paperback and added 16 to my wish-list
💗 I read 1 book in paperback and 18 in eBook
💗 4 books were published traditionally, 1 was from small publishers and 14 were indie published
💗 1 book was published in the 1990s, 2 in the 2000s, 11 in the 2010s, and 5 in the 2020s

💗 My average rating was 4.39
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 6 books
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 - 5 books
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - 7 books
⭐⭐⭐ - 1 books

💗 I read 2 urban fantasies. For romance I read 8 contemporaries, 6 fantasies, 2 historicals and 1 sci-fi.
💗 For my contemporaries, 5 were straight contemporaries, 2 were rom-coms, and 1 was small-town.

1. One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

3. Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan ⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. Annie's Song by Catherine Anderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐

5. Broken Chains by Demelza Carlton ⭐⭐⭐

6. Enthralling the Orc by Tracy Lauren ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

7. Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

8. Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

9. Teased by Fire by Molly O'Hare ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

10. Teased by Tinsel by Molly O'Hare ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

11. The Beast of Clan Kincaid by Lily Blackwood ⭐⭐⭐⭐

12. Warrior's Regret by November Dawn ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

13. Sunday's Child by Grace Draven ⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. Kraev by Sonia Nova ⭐⭐⭐⭐

15. Beard Science by Penny Reid ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

16. A Very Beery New Year by Jackie Lau ⭐⭐⭐⭐

17. A Match Made for Thanksgiving by Jackie Lau ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

18. A Second Chance Road Trip for Christmas by Jackie Lau ⭐⭐⭐⭐

19. Level Up by Cathy Yardley ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

💗 I feel like I was a little all over the place this month with ratings, although most of it was 4 or 4.5-stars. It's hard to choose a favorite, but I really enjoyed the ending of Kate Daniels and happy I chose to reread Beard Science. It just really hit what I needed at the time. My least favorite is my only 3-star book, Broken Chains. It just didn't quite meet my expectations was a struggle for me to get into.

I can't wait to see what happens next month and hope that I get a little more time to pick up some reading. I'm kind of feeling the more contemporary route at this point, so I have a lot of ideas of books I want to read in that realm. I do want to try to pick up at least a couple of each subgenre though to keep things mixed up! We'll see what happens! I'm also excited to start the new seasonal reading challenge Love Has Sprung!

How was your reading during February?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

Teased by Tinsel by Molly O'Hare

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After reading Teased by Fire, I decided to pick up the holiday novella set afterwards. Teased by Tinsel, by Molly O'Hare, is listed as book 1.5 in her Teased by Love series. I was able to use this for the prompt holiday novella for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss.

We pick up a little over a year since the end of Teased of Fire. As we approach Christmas and Hank and Olive's first marriage anniversary (also Christmas Day), Hank has something special planned. He has rented a cabin a few hours away so he and Olive and their kitty can get away from people and everyone for a couple days. Not only do they plan on celebrating their anniversary, but also a little bit of Christmas just with the two of them.

There was actually quite a bit packed into this sweet holiday novella. We get caught up with Hank and Olive and get a little of time passage between the books. What I liked is seeing them as husband and wife and the greater sense of familiarity between them. We still got Olive's quirkiness and the fun antics of Dog the Maine Coon. We also got quite a bit of steam for how short this was. Even though I read this in late February, the holiday coziness was very apparent and it didn't really feel out of season. Or maybe I'm just crazy! There were some fun things that happened up at the cabin with a squirrel and just being in a new setting for Olive. What I also really liked was there was some dealings with the PTSD that Olive still has after her car accident. It felt really normal and I loved that everyone around her was supportive and also suffering through a small amount of PTSD as well.

There were more teasers leading up to Hank's best friend and his sister and this novella just made me anticipate their book even more! I can't wait to dig into more of Molly O'Hare's backlist. It was a great addition to Teased by Fire and I highly recommend reading it if you enjoyed the first book.

Have you read Teased by Tinsel?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

SATISTISCS: Teased by Tinsel, Molly O'Hare, 4.5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 158 pages, published in 2021, indie published

Yahtzee Challenge Announcement

 Happy March! Today I'm doing an announcement for another reading challenge! This one is a little different though, so I'm not doing my typical tbr or idea list. Before we get into it too much, let's go over the basic information. I found this challenge thanks to the fun group on goodreads Romance Readers Reading Challenges. They have a lot of different kinds of reading challenges for various amounts of time. I actually participated in one last June for their Wedding Season Challenge. Back to our Yahtzee challenge though! So this is a little different in that you can only do one prompt a month meaning this challenge will from March 1st, 2022 through March 31st, 2023. Everything is explained in the original post, but if you want to learn more before joining, I'll go over the basic prompts and rules.

So with Yahtzee, we are going with the normal roll 5 dice and keep what you want and roll a total of three times. They are keeping all of the normal goals and I'll list those below with the prompts for each roll. You are required to roll and post your result in the forum (just keep using the same post to update). You have to make your roll between the 25th of the previous month and the 5th of the current month and have it recorded. Then you can choose which option you are applying it too (as per usual). They did make a note that each month there will be an alternative roll option if what you roll doesn't match up with any available options (although let's be honest, that shouldn't be the case for the first month since at the very least you'll have the chance roll). Once you've read the book, you just need to record the book done with the date finished.

GOALS/PROMPTS:

Ones: Read a book with a one word title or first in a series
Twos: Read a book with a two word title or second in a series
Threes: Read a book with a three word title or third in a series
Fours: Read a book with a four word title or fourth in a series
Fives: Read a book with a five word title or fifth in a series
Sixes: Read a book with a six word title or sixth in a series
3-of-a-Kind: Read a book with either red, blue or yellow on the cover
4-of-a-Kind: Read a book with either earth, wind, air or fire on the cover
Full House: Read a book with the number 2 or 3 in the page count or publication date
Small Straight: Read a book with less than 5,000 reviews
Large Straight: Read a book with more than 5,000 reviews
Yahtzee: Read any book
Chance: Read a book by a new-to-you author

There are a few other rules to keep note of. First, for the straight numbers there is a requirement to get at least three (so all of the numbers are technically at least three-of-a-kind). Also, if you get more than one Yahtzee, you can apply it using joker rules, which basically means it can almost go anywhere else. If you don't know what joker rules are, it's explained in the information post. There's also a limit of a book being at least 90 pages long.

If you are interested in a more low-key reading challenge combined with a classic dice game, please join us! If you haven't friended me on goodreads, please do! A big spot I learn about new books or decide to pick up a book is if my friends have or will read it!

Will you be participating in the Yahtzee Reading Challenge?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎