What a great month for reading! I upped my reading goal to 50 books for this year (my best year yet!) and I’ve reached 41/50!
So milestones this month included:
- My first ever book tour! (see Making a Play below)
- An amazing birthday with signed copies of Olivia Wildenstein’s A Pack of Blood and Lies trilogy, and an amazing gift from her as well!
- I think this is my best month yet at 8 books! And I reviewed or recommended all of them so far!
Darkblood Academy (Books 1 and 2) by G.K. Derosa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read my full recommendation here! Book 3 is out October 1/2019 and I’m super pumped!
Up until now, Luna thought supernaturals were beings higher up on the food chain, made of up multiple different species including (but not limited to): Witches/Warlocks, Fae, Shifters, Demons, Mermaids, Werewolves and Vampires. Luna definitely never thought she’d be whisked away to the supernatural world by her long-Lost half-sister who, get this, claims she’s got a powerful warlock father.
The next thing Luna knows, she’s dumped at Darkhen Academy, a supe university ruled by the infamous seven- a student descendant representing each of the supernatural houses. Each day is worse than the next, with Luna struggling to find any spark of magic in her fragile human body, as she’s pitted up against classmates who have been honing their powers for their entire lives.
But one very gorgeous, very protective, very off-limits instructor has faith in her magic, and will stop at nothing to show Luna that she belongs at the school more than anyone. Unfortunately, Luna begins to belong too well and her whole life gets thrown topsy-turvy as she starts being hunted by demons who want to see her dead.
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full recommendation is up here! Anxiously awaiting the sequel!
Lara was raised to be an assassin princess. Trained by her father, The King’s, men to be ruthless and smart, but groomed to be a beautiful and deceiving bride.
When Lara learn of her father’s plan to kill off all of her sisters, leaving only one daughter to marry the king of The Bridge Kingdom, Lara comes up with a plan to save them from that fate and takes matters in her own hands. She marries the King with the intention to bring him, and his kingdom, to their knees.
What she doesn’t intend is to respect her new king and his people, and learn nasty things about her father that causes her to second guess her allegiances.
The Exchange by M.F. Lorson
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read my full review here!
Ari is a problem child- she knows it, no need to beat around the bush. Ari is always trying to sabotage her father’s work and has basically been banned from anywhere said work is kept. But she does it for good reason- her father works for The Institute, the group of sketchy, sleaze-ball scientists who run the Exchange Program and bring people from the past to their time for research and learning purposes… or so they let people think.
James is a farmer from 1903, eager to leave his daily life behind in search of something new and exciting. Jumping at the chance to be apart of the Exchange, James gets paired up in 2030 with Ari as his guide, much to her displeasure. Ari thinks she can deal with the Institute for James’ three month exchange, then send him back on his merry way to his old life. Except James has no intention of going back.
As James tries to convince Ari to help him stay in the future- as Ari’s dislike of the program could give him a chance at a life in 2030- they begin to uncover the truth of the Exchange Program and the horror of why each exchange is chosen. The Exchange is a gripping, compelling stand-alone read that brings a new twist to time-travel romance, and the consequences of trying to conquer time.
Altered by Vicki Stiefel
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read my thoughts on this ARC here!
Kitlyn’s body is dying. Between her accident back in her circus days and her Huntington’s genes, Kit finds the days of enjoying the outdoors is almost behind her.
Until Kit and her sisters find themselves tumbling down a cliff into… another world? With a younger, new body and a totally hot Wolf Clan Warrior telling her she’s a Made One- a woman brought to their parallel universe to help birth females for their clan.
On top of squashing all the advances of her expected role, Kit spends her days trying to locate her sisters who have yet to be found. But being the only known Made One makes Kit a hot commodity- one that the Clans are willing to start a war over. Though if Kit has any say in it, she will be fighting the war to win her freedom- and save her new Clan from a bloody grave.
The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read my love for this ARC here!
Keeley Smythe has two loves in her life: her family, and her blacksmithing. Coming from a long line of female blacksmiths, Keeley is strong and savvy with her hammer- and not just in a work sense. Give her a person in distress, and she will slam a few faces in with her handy tool.
So when one of her sisters is fated to be the next Queen, to win the crown above the Old King’s remaining sons, Keeley’s first order of business is to protect her sister and fight by her side. Along with a few mythical Centaurs warriors, a War Monk, and Keeley’s drunk but deadly cousin, the fated Queen’s Court is ready to fight for the good of all lives in their kingdom.
But when betrayal and treachery reaches the Smythe family, Keeley will stop at nothing to save them and secure their people a better future. Even if it means risking her life for new alliances. Even if it means becoming a unlikely saviour. Even if it means dying on the battlefield in the bloody war that awaits
Making a Play by Abbi Glines
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Read my full blog tour stop here!
I absolutely love every one of the Field Party books so far, for their feel-good romance and realistic and relatable characters. Each story shows two young loves facing real-word problems that they have to overcome, and Abbi Glines writes them each so well, readers are given insight to how people have to deal with these issues. Previous themes have been: PTSD, death of a loved one, drug use, family drama, being a teen mom, and problems self image.
Continuing on with these mature themes, Making a Play addresses bigotry and racism, as well as a girl who struggles with being hearing impaired. Underneath these serious themes, though, is an adorable love story and a mutual love for football that binds this series together.
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Read my full recommendation here! This was an amazing story to wrap up August with. 🥰
Lira is the princess of the sirens, the deadliest known to man, and is infamous for killing a human prince every year for her birthday. With seventeen hearts in her collection, this year Lira hopes to impress her mother The Sea Queen and retrieve the heart of a special prince: Elian, the siren hunter.
Elian wants nothing more than to spend the rest of his days on his pirate ship evading kingly duties, and rid his ocean of sirens. Especially the deadly Prince’s Bane, who nearly took his life in his own kingdom. And when an unusual young woman shows up in the middle of the ocean able to speak the tongue of the sirens, Elian is intrigued. Suspicious as hell, but intrigued.
Bookish Bex 