Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. How was your June? Mine was so full I barely had time to myself. Some good things happened though, I saw Iron Maiden and Halestorm play live, I saw a couple of theatre shows and I read some good books.
Did you read any good books this month, what were they?
Today I am bringing you my wrap up for the month of June!
From my TBR I read:
Murder At The Beauty pageant by Helena Dixon – I did read this. It’s number 11 or maybe number 12 in the Miss Underhay cosy mystery series. Each installment is a brilliant short mystery with characters you love no matter what. It’s always a delight to delve into another book in the series.
Murder At Traitors Gate by Irina Shapiro – I did read this. This book is the second in the Bell and Tate series, a historical mystery series set around Victorian time in London I believe. I like that this series can balance the lightness of the character’s relationships with the darkness of the crime. It has a gothic feel to the series which I love.
To Sway A Bard – I did read this. I thought I was going to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It had all the great parts it needed: a thief character, a sheriff who is hunting the thief, enemies to lovers, a high stakes adventure, royalty, banter. But for me it was not taken as far as it could have been, it felt a little underdeveloped. I still enjoyed it but not as much as I hoped I would.
A Witch’s Guide To Love And Poison – I did read this.
A Rivalry Of Hearts by Tessonja Odette – I read half of this book before deciding to DNF it. Not because there was anything wrong with it because there wasn’t. It was well written and well plotted, the romance was good, I liked both the main characters but I got bored and having to read another half that would have been much more of the same wasn’t appealing so for now I have DNF’d it. I might come back to it later.
Fall Of The Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – as I am writing this I have not started this yet, however there are twelve more days left in June so I am pretty sure I will be able to have read it by the end of the month.
Vera Wong’s Guide To Snooping On A Dead an by Jesse Sutanto – I did read this. I enjoyed it. The second in the vera wong mystery series following a chinese mother who owns a tea shop and keeps getting herself involved in murder investigations.
So, by the end of the month I should have managed to read all seven of the books that were on my TBR for the month AND outside of it I have also read the new Rob Rinder book, The Protest which was one of my most anticipated reads for this year.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. As I’m writing this I have to say I’m feeling the stress right now but at least picking what books I am going to read next is a fun thing to be doing. Gets me excited about my books, anybody else?
What do you guys plan on reading this month?
MY JUNE TBR:
Murder At The Beauty Pageant by Helena Dixon
Murder At Traitors Gate by Irina Shapiro
To Sway A Bard
A Witch’s Guide To Love and Poison
A Rivalry of Hearts by Tessonja Odette
Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell
Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping On A Dead Man by Jessie Q Sutanto
Happy Friday bookish people! How are you all doing today?
Today I am bringing you a small list of some of the book releases happening in May.
The Tenant by Freida McFadden – 6th May
There’s no place like home…
Blake Porter is riding high, until he’s not. Fired abruptly from his job as a VP of marketing and unable to make the mortgage payments on the new brownstone that he shares with his fiancee, he’s desperate to make ends meet.
Enter Whitney. Beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, and looking for a room to rent. She’s exactly what Blake’s looking for. Or is she?
Because something isn’t quite right. The neighbors start treating Blake differently. The smell of decay permeates his home, no matter how hard he scrubs. Strange noises jar him awake in the middle of the night. And soon Blake fears someone knows his darkest secrets…
Danger lives right at home, and by the time Blake realizes it, it’ll be far too late. The trap is already set.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden knocks at your door with a gripping story of revenge, privilege, and secrets turned sour…
The South Wind by Alexandria Warwick – 8th May
Princess Sarai of Ammara has less than three months to live before death claims her. Cursed as a child to die on her twenty-fifth nameday, she will do whatever it takes to secure her realm’s future, including an arranged marriage to Prince Balior, a handsome young noble from a neighboring kingdom. But another man vies for her attention as well: Notus, the South Wind, god of the desert breeze, and Sarai’s ex-lover.
Sarai is determined to stay away from the god who betrayed her and honor her father’s plan. But Prince Balior has an agenda of his own, and as Sarai learns more about her betrothed, she realizes he might be a dangerous threat to her people. So despite her hatred for Notus, she fakes their engagement to escape the arranged marriage and unearth Prince Balior’s true motives surrounding his obsession with the menacing labyrinth that sits in the palace’s grounds.
But darker forces are at work, and time is running out. Together with Notus, Sarai must face the horrors dwelling inside the labyrinth to save herself and her realm—but in order to succeed, she must confront her pain and the monsters she carries within herself…
The South Wind is a brand-new standalone fantasy romance novel featuring a fake engagement and second chance romance from TikTok sensation Alexandria Warwick. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Scarlett St. Clair and Raven Kennedy.
A Curse Carved In Bone by Danielle L Jenson – 13th May
A shield maiden fights to break the shackles of prophecy—and to overcome the betrayal of the man who broke her heart—in this searing conclusion to the Norse-inspired fantasy romance duology that began with the bestselling A Fate Inked in Blood.
The secret of her divine heritage revealed, Freya finds herself on a path that will see thousands of lives lost to the magic in her blood. Desperate to avoid this dark fate, she risks an alliance with Skaland’s greatest enemy to seek answers from the seer who foretold her future—the same seer who sent Bjorn to kill her.
While Freya still seethes with rage over Bjorn’s betrayal, the blood oaths that bind her demand that she keep him close as she hunts for a way to avert the looming war. Her magic draws her to the front lines of an old enmity, embroiling her with Nordeland’s Unfated—children of the gods who serve the king she was raised to fear. The same king who, unlike Bjorn, is now willing to fight at her back. For despite the desire that burns hot between Bjorn and Freya, his growing distrust of her chosen path threatens to drag them further apart.
As war approaches, gods and mortals must choose their weapons. Yet the fiercest battle will be the one Freya wages within herself. With the magic of two goddesses burning in her veins, she must weave the threads of destiny to decide her own fate: Will she be the shield that protects her people or the curse that destroys them?
Rewind It Back by Liz Tomforde – 20th May
𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆
When I was eleven, my family moved next door to his. When I was thirteen, he was my first crush. When I was sixteen, we fell for each other. And when I was nineteen, we broke each other’s hearts.
Six years later, I’ve landed an internship with a big-name interior designer in a new city. Unfortunately, that city just so happens to be the one he plays hockey for.
I thought Chicago was big enough to avoid him, until I get the surprise of a lifetime and unknowingly move in right next door. Even worse? The renovation project I’m assigned to in hopes of turning that internship into my full-time dream job…
It’s 𝘩𝘪𝘴 house.
But how am I supposed to update his bachelor pad into a family home when we can’t even stand to be in the same room?
I may have loved Rio DeLuca once, but I’m not that same girl anymore.
𝑹𝒊𝒐
I never thought I’d be the only single one left in my friend group. But after years of trying to find love, I’ve concluded it may not exist for me anymore.
That is, until I accidentally hire Hallie Hart to renovate my house and our jaded history has me rewinding memories I’ve kept secret for years.
You see, there’s something that my friends don’t know.
That connection I’ve been looking for since I moved to Chicago, that one person some search their entire lives to find… I had already found her when I was twelve years old.
And now the only girl I’ve ever loved is moving into the house next door.
Again.
Malevolent Eight by Sebastien De Castell – 22nd May
The stakes have never been higher.
The world is teetering on the brink of annihilation. The Lords Celestine and the Lords Devilish, celestial and infernal beings locked in an age-old enmity, have at last found the perfect battlefield for their apocalyptic Great the mortal realm.
Cade Ombra, former Glorian Justiciar turned mercenary wonderist, leads a band of emotionally unstable mages in a desperate bid to prevent the impending clash of divine and diabolical titans. Failure will leave humanity to be conscripted into an eternal war, serving as foot soldiers doomed to oblivion.
The mission seems impossible, but Cade and the Malevolent Seven aren’t exactly pacifists, so they’re determined to bring peace no matter how many people they have to kill first. With wit as sharp as their blades and a moral compass that points only toward survival, they’re ready to cut down anyone in their path to stop the war before it begins.
Prepare for a whirlwind of dark magic, irreverent humour and relentless action in The Malevolent The Bad, The Worse and The Wicked. The fate of the humanity hangs in the balance, and only the most malevolent can hope to save it.
Damned by Genevieve Cogman – 22nd May
For a former English maid, the stakes have never been higher . . .
Damned is the final book in the Scarlet Revolution series, a spellbinding adventure of magic, vampires and mayhem from the bestselling author of the Invisible Library series.
1794. Eleanor, former English maid, is a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel – and now a promising mage. With a vampire plot thwarted in Paris, the League’s next daring rescue is that of the Pimpernel’s beloved wife, Lady Marguerite, imprisoned in her London townhouse on unjust charges of treason and espionage.
But Lady Marguerite’s captivity is only the first threat from the League’s vampiric enemy. With the King known to be ill, possibly mad, England is not as it should be. Vampires conspire to take control over the whole country whilst challenging Eleanor and the League at every turn.
But then, using her growing magical powers, Eleanor uncovers a devastating, centuries-old secret. It is one so steeped in blood, that it will change not only England, but the entire vampire world, forever . . .
Discover where Eleanor’s journey first began in the Sunday Times bestseller, Scarlet.
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig – 20th May
From BookTok sensation and NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig, comes the next big romantasy phenomenon: a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a prophetess who is forced beyond the safety of her cloister on an impossible quest to defeat the gods with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight.
Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.
Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.
No One Was Supposed To Die At This Wedding – 29th May
The second in a witty, USA Today bestselling series following author Eleanor Dash as she goes from wedding guest to murder mystery investigator at her best friend’s wedding on Catalina Island.
Attending your best friend’s wedding should be a piece of (wedding) cake, but not for Eleanor Dash, bestselling author of the Vacation Mysteries series. Because murder seems to follow her every time she goes on vacation and is definitely her uninvited plus-one to the special occasion.
Emma Wood, Eleanor’s best friend since childhood, is starring in the movie adaptation of When in Rome, Eleanor’s first novel. Emma is also marrying Fred Winters, a major movie star and Emma’s co-star, who just happens to be playing Connor Smith, Eleanor’s ex and leading man of the series.
Filming wraps and they invite the whole cast and crew to their wedding at nearby Catalina Island. There may be a storm headed their way—because of course there is—but nothing will stop their nuptials . . . that is until Emma receives a note that says “Someone is going to die at the wedding.”
Eleanor is a professional at this point, and she’ll do everything she can to uncover the murderer so true love can prevail . . . before it’s too late for her and the rest of the storm-trapped wedding party.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. Today I am bringing you my book review for Way of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell.
Have any of you read this series? Or the Spellslinger series? Let me know what you thought of it if you have. The Spellslinger series is one of my all time favourite series’.
Blurb/Synopsis:
A MERCILESS BAND OF MAGES MURDERED HER PARENTS, MASSACRED HER TRIBE AND BRANDED HER WITH MYSTICAL SIGILS THAT LEFT HER A REVILED OUTCAST. THEY SHOULD’VE KILLED HER INSTEAD.
Stealing, swindling, and gambling with her own life just to survive, Ferius will risk anything to avenge herself on the zealous young mage who haunts her every waking hour.
But then she meets the incomparable Durral Brown, a wandering philosopher gifted in the arts of violence who instead overcomes his opponents with shrewdness and compassion. Does this charismatic and infuriating man hold the key to defeating her enemies, or will he lead her down a path that will destroy her very soul?
Through this outstanding tale of swashbuckling action, magical intrigue, and dazzling wit, follow Ferius along the Way of the Argosi and enter a world of magic and mystery unlike any other.
My Review:
This book is a prequel novel to the Spellslinger series, following Ferrius Parfax when she was younger and what events made her the way she is. Usually I am not the biggest fan of a prequel but this one I loved. To begin with I didn’t like young Ferrius, she was a bit silly and fueled by her anger, rightfully so in the circumstances. But I enjoyed getting to follow her on her journey to being a different person and all the people she met along the way. One thing I really loved about this book was seeing the parallels between Ferrius and her relationship with Durell compared to Kellen and his relationship to Ferrius in the Spellslinger books. It was like a mirror image and it’s those kind of touches that made this book brilliant.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. Seeing as it is Valentine’s Day today, what else could I bring you except a post celebrating some of my favourite book boyfriends. I have to say, it was hard to choose. I made a list of them all and then picked the best ones for the questions and it was a long list.
I found this Tag on Got Meghan’s Blog if you want to check out how they answered the tag.
The Most Romantic Boyfriend: LORD PHILLIP STANTON from The Lady in the Tower by Marie Louise Jenson. Phillip is a bit of a rogue for most of the book but by far out of my fave book boyfriends he would be the most romantic. He is a Lord in the Tudor period brought up on chivalry and how he should treat a lady.
A Dark and Moody Bad Boy With A Good Side: KAI from Powerless by Lauren Roberts. He is the epitome of dark and moody especially for the first half of the book but deep down he’s a softie, he just doesn’t want everyone to know that.
Paranormal Boyfriend: WRATH from Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. I wasn’t sure who to put to start with then I remembered, he’s a prince of hell so a demon of sorts. Which I am saying counts, okay.
Boy You’d Be Friends With Benefits With: JULIAN SANTOS from Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Now, I wouldn’t be friends with benefits at all but for the purpose of this tag it would be Julian. I love him and he had to make it onto this list somewhere, so I put him here because he dresses like a cross between a circus performer and a pirate.
Your Soul Mate: THOMAS CRESSWELL from Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri maniscalco. You can’t convince me otherwise. He is my favourite book boyfriend by a mile.
Boyfriend You’d Venture Anywhere with: NATHANIAL HAWTHORNE from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. He’s magic, it would make life interesting.
Boyfriend You Want to be Stranded on a Desert Island With: KELLEN ARGOSI from Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell. He literally spends most of the series trekking across a desert trying to survive so he must have picked up some skills from all of that which could help us.
Most Badass Boyfriend: RHYSAND from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I don’t think I need to explain this one, if you’ve read the series then I am sure you will understand.
That’s my answers! Who are some of your favourite book boyfriends?
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. It is time to bring you my January wrap up.
How was your reading in January? Any new favourite books?
I had a pretty good month, as I am writing this it’s only the 16th of January so I have some more time to read more, and there’s one book I am planning on reading by the end of the month that I think might be five stars.
From my TBR:
Way of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – I read this FOUR STARS
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson – I read this FOUR STARS
Murder at the Belltower by Helena Dixon – I read this FOUR STARS
A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S Olson – I read this FIVE STARS
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas – I am currently reading this but I already know it is going to be FIVE STARS
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas – I did not read this one and only because I don’t want to read two Sarah J Maas books in a row so I am going to finish the ACOTAR series and then continue with the Throne of Glass series.
Outside of my TBR I have also read Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon and… I plan on reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros before the month is over.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all good today, a bit of a warning, this might be a long one.
I have been seeing these lists everywhere and I thought it would be fun to do my own. So, these are the 25 books I want to prioritize in 2025. I have chosen these books because they are either: oldest on my TBR, continuing series I have started which is one of my goals for the year or they are books I feel like I should have got to by now.
The ACOTAR series (yes, I am counting the books I have left to read – A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Frost and Starlight and A Court of Silver Flames – as one together because I really want to finish this series in 2025)
I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan
Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco
The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V E Schwab
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Traitors Blade by Sebastien de Castell
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
City of Brass by S A Chakraborty
Where Dreams Descend by Janelle Angeles
Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
The Painted Dragon by Katherine Woodfine
That’s the ones on my list, what books do you want to read in 2025?
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today.
It is 2025! Can you believe it? 2024 was such a long year, both in good and bad ways and I am hopeful that 2025 will see better books and better things in general. Do you have any goals for 2025? Reading or otherwise I’d love to hear about them. A goal for me is to make progress in my series’, I have a habit of reading the first book, buying the whole series and then they just sit there on my shelves waiting for me to read them while I read newer and shinier ones instead. I want to do better with that this year.
Today I am bringing you what I will be reading in January:
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today.
Seeing as it is now fully summertime I thought it would be fun to think back on the books I have read and give a few summer recs!
Dead man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
This is my second favourite Agatha Christie novel, second to Halloween Party, and there are village fairs and secrets and I adore this book.
Lying About Last Summer by Sue Wallman
It is literally in the title, and it is a great, twisty mystery. I know a lot of people like to read thrillers and mysteries in the summer and this would be a great choice.
What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett
This is a nice, sweet, summery romance novel and I think it is set in summer because it features a literary festival and they are mostly held in the summer months if they are outside.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
This book is a sweet, cosy fantasy with some romance and it feels like a good summer read.
Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
Even the colours on the covers of this series scream series, same as Vampire Academy the series gets dark in some places but it is a brilliant fantasy series great for the summer.
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
This is a nostalgic one for me, I love this series and it is a young adult vampire series, to me it just feels like a summer series, it gets dark in places but the characters and their humour keep things light.
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