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December Book Releases

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is December and so it is time to share some of the books that are being released this month. As always, I am nowhere near a complete list, most of the time I have only seen a couple but I am glad to share any that I can.

Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson – 9th December

Spanning the genres of fantasy and science fiction, this collection features stories from beyond the bounds of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere universe.

Along with the never-before-seen novella ‘Moment Zero’, Tailored Realities will include ‘Snapshot’, ‘Perfect State’, ‘Defending Elysium’ (a novella set within the world of Skyward), and five other stories that were originally published individually elsewhere – never before collected into one volume, and many never before available in print.

In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams – 30th December


🥕 Chef x Farmer
🥕 Brother’s Best Friend
🥕 He Fell First
🥕 Friends to Lovers
🥕 Meddling Townsfolk

Madison Walker was determined to make it in the culinary world of New York. But with her dreams shattered, she returns home to Rome, Kentucky, where an unexpected chance to rebuild her life awaits her – a head chef position at a new farm-to-table restaurant.

Better In Black by Cassandra Clare – 4th December

Ten couples. United by love. Divided by danger.

Jace and Clary seek out an exiled Shadowhunter and learn that love can save the world – or destroy it.
Will and Tessa are enjoying their honeymoon in Paris when a séance sends them down an unexpected path.
Simon and Izzy are together in New York when they observe increased demonic activity.

These are just a few of the beloved couples whose romantic escapades will have you on the edge of your seat across time and storylines from Cassandra Clare’s expansive Shadowhunters series. Don’t miss a chance to reunite with:

Anna and Ari
Emma and Julian
Kieran, Mark, and Cristina
James and Cordelia
Thomas and Alastair
Sebastian and the Seelie Queen
Jocelyn and Luke

A love letter to every Shadowhunter fan, and perfect for any romantasy lover, this riveting story collection also includes a sneak peek at The Wicked Powers, the majestic trilogy that will be the grand finale of the entire series.

Relive the love stories that started it all or begin your Shadowhunters obsession with the first in each series: City of Bones, Clockwork Angel or Chain of Gold.

An Archive of Romance by Ava Reid – 15th December

Monthly TBRs

December TBR

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is now December and that means it is time to talk about what books we will be reading this month.

What books do you hope to read in December and before the end of 2025?

December TBR

Murder at the Orpheus Theatre by Irina Shapiro

Pages and Co: Tilly and the Map of Stories by Anna James

Dog Sitter Detective Christmas Tails by Antony Johnston

Miss Beetons Murder Agency by Josie Lloyd

Traitors Legacy by S J Parris

Fearful by Lauren Roberts

Death and the Harlot by Georgina Clarke

Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife by Martin Edwards

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

Monthly Wrap Ups

November Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a lovely day. It is the end of the month and that means it is time to discuss the books that I did and did not read in November.

What books did you read this month? Did you enjoy them?

From my November TBR:

  • Immortality by Dana Schwartz – I did not get around to reading it this month
  • Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – I decided, after putting two on my November TBR, not to do any rereads this month so I did not read this one
  • The Guest List by Lucy Foley – I did read this book. I have been putting it off for a long time but I have finally read it and I thought it was good, not amazing but good enough.
  • The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews – I did read this.
  • Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco – this was the second book that I put on my November TBR as a reread, so I did not read this.
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies – I did read this.
  • Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft – I did not read this
  • To Steal From Thieves by M K Lobb – I did not read this.
  • A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna – I did read this.
  • Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood – I did read this.
  • Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – I did read this.
  • Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas – I am writing this a little early, I have a week left of November and in that time I plan on finishing Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn.

Outside of my TBR I also read The Ripper of Whitechapel by Yvette Fielding and A Quiet Life in the Country by TE Kinsey.

That means in November, I read a total of 8 books so far this month, but I might be able to add three more to this if I manage to read the three Sarah J Maas books.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope that you’re all having a good day today.

Today, I am bringing you my book review for Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson.

Blurb/Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Sorcery of Thorns and An Enchantment of Ravens comes a thrilling new YA fantasy about a teen girl with mythic abilities who must defend her world against restless spirits of the dead.

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.

My Review:

The first thing I will say about this book is that it is an underrated masterpiece. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, I had read both of Margaret Rogerson’s other books: Sorcery of Thorns which I loved, and An Enchantment of Ravens which I thought was okay but ended up being my least favourite book that I read in January of this year. Having mixed feelings about her books I was shocked to enjoy this one so much. An Enchantment of Ravens is very romance heavy, very little plot, Vespertine is all plot and no romance, and Sorcery of Thorns is in the middle as a mix of both of them.

Vespertine follows Artemisia and basically it is her and the voice of the being that has supposedly ‘posessed’ her as they attempt to solve the mystery of what is happening in their land. I loved the banter between the two characters, both of them are willful and stubborn and they slowly reveal their backstories to each other as they are forced into a working relationship. You are also slowly introduced to other characters who you become both trusting and nervous about, I especially loved the Captain Enguerrand.

This novel focuses a lot on the challenge of Artemisia having the weight of all these people on her, every choice she makes has an impact and being inside her head you see how her thoughts are battling, it is deeply emotional.

The other thing I loved is that it is written in a way that Margaret Rogerson could return to this world and I hope that she does.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Monthly TBRs

November TBR!

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. It is November and now that I am free from my PhD work (at least until January), I have a lot more time to read and that makes me very excited – so many options!

What are you all planning on reading this month?

Fate of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

Agency of Scandal by Laura Wood

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

To Steal From Thieves by M K Lobb

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Immortality by Dana Schwarz

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Book Reviews

Book Review: Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.

Today, I am bringing you my book review for Listen For the Lie by Amy Tintera. Have any of you read this book? If you have let me know what you thought of it.

Blurb/Synopsis:

What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?

Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.

My Review:

I will start by saying I did not think I would like this book. I originally bought it as research for my PhD and then I continued to push it back and find reasons not to read it because I was sure I would not enjoy it. However, I can tell you now, I was completely wrong! I loved this book.
Throughout the novel, you are following Lucy who has returned to her hometown where her best friend was killed and she lost all of her memories of that night. There is a podcaster in town who is investigating the case and together they try to work out what happened. I loved that there was the vibes of an unreliable narrator going on, Lucy had no idea what happened so she was trying to piece it all together while at the same time every single person around her is telling her that she must have killed her, including her parents and the man that was her husband at the time. It added a great dimension because everyone is sure of her guilt, except her, and as a reader you root for Lucy to not be the killer and yet also she might be. It is something I haven’t read before and I really enjoyed that.
I have to say, Amy Tintera’s writing is excellent because there were characters in this I absolutely hated, I hated how they treated other people and the book really made me feel for the people in it. This was a book I read in an evening, when people say I couldn’t put it down – I honestly could not put this book down until I knew what had happened.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Book Reviews

Book Review: Us In Ruins by Rachel Moore

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Happy Monday bookish people! How are you all doing today?

I am bringing you my review of Us In Ruins by Rachel Moore. Have any of you read this book? If you have, what did you think of it?

Blurb/Synopsis:

Margot is on the quest to uncover and reassemble an ancient—and cursed—vase, with the help of a boy who went missing in 1932, because it’s the only way to put back together her broken heart in this stand-alone adventure rom-com, perfect for fans of What the River Knows and The Lost City.

The mythical Vase of Venus Aurelia hasn’t been seen since 1932, but Margot Rhodes is determined to change that.

Drawn by the vase’s supposed magical properties, Margot embarks on her school’s archaeological trip to Pompeii. Sure, it’s her first time holding a shovel, but she’s got something no one else does: lost teenage explorer Van Keane’s journal.

Poring over the poetic entries that serve as a map to the vase’s missing shards, Margot finds herself falling in love with the boy who wrote it a century ago. She’s shocked when her search leads her to a statue that looks exactly like Van, and then the statue comes to life.

Catapulted into the present, Van is nothing like the wordsmith Margot imagined. He’s all sharp edges, intent on retrieving the relic for all the wrong reasons. But it takes two to survive Venus’s death-defying challenges, and, together, Margot and Van must excavate the treasure—and their buried pasts—before their story ends in ruins.

With a blend of humor, magic, and love, Rachel Moore crafts another stand-alone adventure rom-com full of double- and triple-crosses, hilarious shenanigans, and frustration-fueled banter, where the best treasure is true love.

My Review:

I went into this book after reading Rachel Moore’s other book, Library of Shadows, which I enjoyed but I didn’t love it so I was already hesitant about reading this one.
I will be honest, the first half was not my cup of tea. It took a while to get into the action and the main girl, Margot, isn’t that likeable. But, in the second half of the book Margot gets a lot of character growth, and so does Van – who I spent the whole novel, up to the last moment, questioning his motives and not fully trusting him which I think was the author’s intent. Overall, I liked the mystery of the book and I especially liked the atmosphere of being surrounded by classic architecture and the locations they visited, the mythology that everything centered on, that was all great. I did not love the ending, it was very sudden and I almost wish it had ended one or two chapters before it did, I think that would have been more poignant as an ending.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Monthly TBRs

October TBR!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. It is October, the colder weather is drawing in quickly and I for one am feeling all comfy and cosy in jumpers, curled up with books and tea. Spring might be my favourite season because of all the flowers but Autumn has to be a close second.

Anyway, what are you all up to at the moment? I am spending October finishing up and submitting my PhD which has been a long time coming, but during that I have a lot of waiting around time in between – waiting for feedback etc. So, that means a lot of free time to be reading and I’ll need a good TBR.

What are you all planning on reading in October?

TBR

  • Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas – I am enjoying my trip through the Throne of Glass series and I have just finished Queen of Shadows and will be moving onto the next book. I will not be doing the tandem read, one huge book at a time is enough for me.
  • The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent – I have been looking forward to reading this one for a while and I think October is the right time to be reading about vampires.
  • Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson – this book has been on my bookshelf for years and I haven’t got around to it yet but I have loved both of her other books and loved them so I have high hopes for this one.
  • Close To Death by Anthony Horowitz – I find his books to be very hit and miss, some I enjoy and some I do not so we shall see how this one goes, the premise looks enjoyable.
  • Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo – oh, here we go. Another book I have had for a long time, I need to read it to see if it is worth finishing off the series.
  • Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson – a romance with a little bit of magic involved, I am not usually a fan of romance novels so this could be light and fluffy to break up all the fantasy but I might not love it.
  • The Thirteenth Child by Erin A Craig – this one looks really dark and gothic so I am excited about that but I don’t know a lot about the actual premise, it will be a nice surprise.
  • Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman – I have been excited for this since I got it but I have been waiting for the right time to read it and I think October might be it.
  • The Coven by Harper L Woods – what better time to read a spooky, witchy book than halloween.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Monthly Wrap Ups

September Wrap Up!

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all well today. September has been and gone in a whirlwind and that means it is time to share my wrap up for the month.

In terms of reading, it has been a mixed month. Good, when thinking about the amount of reading I managed to get through which I was surprised, though pleased, about. Not so good because I had a couple of DNF’s this month, they were books I had thought potential DNF’s but it was still a shame that I didn’t manage to get through them.

How was your reading this month? Any new favourite books?

My Wrap Up!

From my TBR:

  • The Killer Question by Janice Hallett – I did read this. I have read, and loved, all of her books so far and this one was no exception. I felt that the build up took a little while to get going but around a third in you do get hooked into the action. It was interesting to have it all centred around a pub quiz as I love a quiz myself. The end had a twist I did not see coming at all.
  • Murder In The Countryside by Helena Dixon – I did read this. Another quick, fun, cosy mystery.
  • Us In Ruins by Rachel Moore – I did read this. I will share my thoughts in a review coming on the 13th October.
  • Listen For The Lie by Amy Tintera – I did read this and if you’d like to see my review that will be coming on the 20th October.
  • I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan – Unfortunately, I did DNF this one, it took me seven days and I only got through 118 pages of it and I was not engaged in the story or the mystery of the missing girl.
  • The Wolf And The Woodsman by Ava Reid – Again, unfortunately, I couldn’t get into this book and I ended up deciding to DNF it.
  • Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – I am currently reading this book and I plan to finish it before the end of the month.
  • Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas – I am also halfway through this book currently and I plan to finish this book also by the end of the month.

Outside my TBR:

  • A Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis
  • Murder In New York by Helena Dixon
  • Murder On The Cornish Coast by Helena Dixon
  • Murder At The English Manor by Helena Dixon
  • Murder In Paris by Helena Dixon

So, in September I read 11 books and I did DNF 2.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Book Reviews

Book Review: Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins (spoilers!!)

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day today. I am bringing you my review for the latest Hunger Games novel, Sunrise On The Reaping. By the way this review might have spoilers in it so if you haven’t read this book yet, go read it then come back and see my review.

Blurb/Synopsis:

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

My Review:

I was unsure whether I wanted to read this book or not, because I read A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and to be honest I didn’t love the book, I did enjoy the film thought, but the book was hard for me to follow. However, I adored Sunrise on the Reaping. It was everything I wanted for Haymitch’s story – and it made me tear up which is a feat from books, I don’t usually cry at them. I loved getting to experience everything that Haymitch had been through and understanding why he became the way he did, it made me like him even more than I did before. For me the most emotional parts were Louella and Lou Lou. That was absolutely heartbreaking both times.
I have seen a lot about the sadness surrounding Lenore Dove, and yes I agree that scene at the end was awful, and it is the moment that destroyed Haymitch, but I didn’t like Lenore. So many of her actions had terrible consequences and I don’t think that she ever felt these consequences herself – not even Haymitch being forced into the games because of her. I didn’t feel her character was sorry about it, she didn’t deserve to die that way but I wish we had seen a bit more of her. I also wish we had seen more of the games and the training before the games.

Despite those few issues, this book was absolutely five stars and my favourite read of August.

Have you read this? What did you think of it?