Quick Take: Explore my End of Year Book Tag, diving into unread gems on my shelves, and my 2023 TBR priorities, including a book I’ve owned for ten years!
(more…)August Wrap Up: 25 Books Read
About: Explore my August Wrap Up featuring 25 books with a 4.03-star average rating. Discover a long-awaited romance favourite and my mystery/thriller journey!
(more…)18 Books on My May TBR
About: My May TBR includes 18 books that I want to read in May, including four books by AAPI authors to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month!
(more…)14 New Books: My Hiemal Book Haul
14 new books make up my Hiemal Book Haul and includes books I’ve purchased from August to November. The most prevalent themes are fantasy and (as always) romance.
(more…)Impactful and Reflective: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
Series: Standalone
Release Date: October 8, 2019
In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.
Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.
With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.
• LGBTQIA+ side character
• Death
• Cannibalism
• Rape
• Sexual assault
• Slut-shaming
• Teen pregnancy
• Girl-hating
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5/5 stars
(more…)Pestilence (The Four Horsemen, #1) by Laura Thalassa
Series: The Four Horsemen*
Release Date: March 20th, 2018
When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.
Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.
Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.
And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she’ll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.
• Concerning the remaining Horsemen: Cliffhanger
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Torture
• Stockholm syndrome
• No OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does Not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 3.25/5 stars
*Each novel in the series is Standalone
(more…)Wings of the Walker (The Walker, #1) by CoraLee June
Series: The Walker
Release Date: December 15, 2017
Josiah’s unexpected engagement has me squinting down the barrel of heartbreak, and to make matters worse; I find myself traded to Cyler Black and his leadership council in a distant Providence.
Soon, Cyler and his team of passionate leaders start to feel like family, and I’m promised freedoms I never imagined were possible; But Josiah’s not through with me yet, and war is on the horizon. Can I find happiness in my new home? Or will Josiah finally choose me?
This is a slow-burn reverse harem romance and the first book in the series.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Fatal virus
• Death
• Abduction
• Does have OW/OM
– Heroine is in love with her childhood best friend (and, now, owner)
– One of the Hero’s has an ex-lover who he’s still in contact with
– The sister of one of the Heroes is (unrequited-ly) in love with one of the Heroes
• Does have the Heroes and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Heroes and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
(more…)Branded (Sinners, #1) by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki
Series: Sinners
Release Date: June 27th, 2013
To punish the guilty, he created the Hole, a place where sinners are branded according to their sins. Sinners are forced to live a less than human existence in deplorable conditions, under the watchful eye of guards who are ready to kill anyone who steps out of line.
Now, LUST wraps around my neck like thick, blue fingers, threatening to choke the life out of me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and the Hole is my new home.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Threat of Rape
• Attempted Rape
• Torture and violence
• Gaslighting
• Psychological abuse
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 1/5 stars
(more…)Black City (Black City, #1) by Elizabeth Richards
Series: Black City
Release Date: November 13th, 2012
In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tension between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-old Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable – they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed – but their feelings are too strong.
When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their dreams.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Oppression
• Torture
• Attempted rape
• Gruesome death
• Violence
– The OW is the true soulmate to the Hero–the Heroine had a heart transplant when she was younger… she received the OW’s heart, which made it seem like the Heroine and Hero were soulmates.
– The Hero is then confused whether he should be with the Hero or Heroine
• Kinda has cheating
– After finding out about the OW being the Hero’s true soulmate, he kisses the OW
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
(more…)Brokenhearted, A Series by Amelia Kahaney
Quick Take: This series has been a joy to read! It’s the perfect blend of romance, intrigue, and suspense. It’s a high-action two-part novel (so far), and the best part being a female superhero!
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