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January Wrap-up
Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Can't Wait Wednesday #234
Books from the Backlog #172
Book Blogger Hop #397
Stacking the Shelves
Another uneventful week. Which is just fine by me! The weekend did get busy with family things and whatnot! Then of course on Friday I got to meet Tessonja Odette and Demi Winters! That was a fun signing! It's always fun to meet authors for the first time and I've been dying to meet Tessonja for ages so this was a great trip for me even if I hate the location which truly seems to be the new favorite for this bookstore. Oddly, the bookstore is nowhere nearby so I still can't figure out why they like this spot that's in a sketchy location. It's not a hotspot for crime, but it just gives you that sketchy feeling or at least it does to me. But go to these events I must!
This was a nice week for books too! I got some good preorders in and I can't wait to get to them...eventually! Lol.
A Sleeping Beauty Retelling
A vicious rivalry.
A forbidden desire.
A curse only her enemy can break.
After twenty years stuck in a fae convent with no word from whoever abandoned her there, Briony Rose is all out of hope. But when her parents suddenly claim her and reveal she’s a lost fae princess, she’s burdened with the weight of a kingdom on the brink of collapse. To secure her family’s precarious position, she must marry a wealthy human stranger. She would have done her duty with pride…if it weren’t for Thorne Blackwood.
Thorne Blackwood harbors three things: a secret name, a love for baked goods, and a long-standing plan for revenge on the family that destroyed his own. Briony Rose—a woman born to be his nemesis—provides the solution. With a single touch, he controls her. And through that control, he tricks her into triggering a curse that sends her family into one hundred years of enchanted sleep.
But Briony isn’t the soft princess he expected her to be. She’s just as sharp and cunning as he is, and when she traps him in a bargain to reverse her family’s curse, he has no choice but to join a tense alliance. He too stands to gain from her plans, for if they break the sleeping spell, his own family will return from their forced slumber.
To accomplish their goal, they must cooperate on one task: pair Briony with a husband who will make her parents proud. It should be easy. Thorne has connections while Briony has wit and beauty. What neither of them expects is the forbidden desire that burns in their darkest hearts…
A Dream So Wicked is Tessonja Odette's Sleeping Beauty retelling in her Entangled with Fae series and was amazing! I think it could be my favorite! It's an enemies to lovers story and I just got so sucked in!
I really hate using the R&J comparison, because despite being an English major, I loathed that play. But we do have the rival families who are essentially out to kill the other and then you get Briony Rose and Thorne Blackwood. Yet, when they first meet, they do not fall into lust, nor love, nor friendship. They are still very much enemies/nemeses. There's no love or like between these two.
Briony does not know much of her family as she was raised believing she was an orphan, then when she turns twenty, her caregivers inform her that she's a princess and her parents have sent for her to return home. Briony is both excited and scared and confused by all this news, but is truly excited to meet the family she always longed to have. But when she learns Thorne Blackwood, the baker she has constant dreams about is to be her travel companion to the palace, Briony has more mixed emotions as Thorne comes off as cold and elusive.
But in her dreams, he's the exact opposite. Briony has a kind of dream magic that she's never fully understood but hopes maybe her parents can fill in the blank. But instead of answers, Briony is presented with even more stress when her parents greet her happily, but then inform her of her betrothal to a man she's never met and she'll be going to his palace the next day.
She also learns of the curse that plagues her family and that of Thorne Blackwood's as their families are entwined in an agelong feud.
Briony and Thorne now must work together to finally put an end to the curse but in order to do that, Briony will have to find her betrothed and convince him to move forward with their marriage. And naturally...that's going to be a problem!
This story was just so much fun! I loved all the nods to Disney's Sleeping Beauty that were woven into this story. I know as a fairy tale fans we don't always agree with Disney's changes, but I feel like both the original fairy tale and Disney version are fun! There's quite a bit of pink or blue action going on and a few other gentle nods that just had me grinning. The story itself was still utterly unique and I loved that the romance still took time to form despite there being heated chemistry between Briony and Thorne.
The story moves at about the pace one would expected when all the details are laid out, I feel like it might be the longest of the books within this series, but would have to double check. Still, the pacing was still just the right amount. My complaint was being too busy to get much reading done from when I originally started this one! I always enjoy a good fairy tale retelling and Odette is definitely one of my favorites in this area! She knows how to tie in the right amount of familiarity and sprinkle in her own magic and twists! It's simply amazing!
I feel like with the fairy tale retellings you pretty much know what kind of ending you're going to get. And I particularly enjoy Odette's epilogues as they tend to be one year later to see where the characters are at in their HEA and there's still always room for a surprise or two and I feel like this is a magic of its own. It's not that typical Disney-ifed ending of "I just met you and I love you. Let's get married!" Which can work for Disney but I feel like would come off awkward in fairy tales today, but Odette knows how to make it work with her epilogues, that's for sure!
If you're looking for yet another fairy tale retelling that pays homage to its predecessor and still shines on its own, be sure to check out Tessonja Odette's Entangled with Fae series as it's the perfect addiction!
Overall Rating 5/5 stars
This week's question is: What drives you to read books? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted-Writer)
MY ANSWER: Ooh good one! I guess for the entertainment! I love getting lost in new worlds or familiar worlds. I just like being entertained and imagining all the possible things. Reading gives me peace, happiness. It's a pleasure to read and it's comforting. It's my passion, it drives me...it's a compulsion to read. You breathe to live and I read to live and live to read! C.S. Lewis said it best, "We read to know we are not alone."
Phoebe Meadows is on trial for her life.
After freeing her half-brother, Baldur, Phoebe is set to stand before the Council in Asgard to answer for her actions. The threat of exile if she’s found guilty looms, not to mention the added stress of meeting her real father for the first time.
Upon entering Asgard, Phoebe discovers new allies in a half-brother she’s never met as well as an oracle who is in possession of valuable information. A little added help couldn’t have come at a better time, because when Phoebe is tossed into an unknown realm, she’s only armed with Gundren, a jewel, and her wits.
When Loki shows up, all bets are off. The trickster god throws a wrench in Phoebe’s plans and kidnaps Fen, her only ally. And just when she thinks she sees the light at the end of the tunnel, Phoebe finds she has to defeat one last obstacle: The Norns.
And they aren’t planning to go down without a fight…
I added Amanda Carlson's Exiled to my TBR in July of 2017 and it's been far too long since I've read her books. I loved her debut werewolf Urban Fantasy series and this was a new series she wrote and I think maybe self-published? It does have Norse mythology tones to it but it has been so long since I have read the first book that I might need to do a re-read of it before I dive into this one. It looks like it was a trilogy so yeah, I need a whole re-read! Lol.
Lies, beauty, and seduction mingle in the first book of an enthralling romantasy series where making art is considered a sin, and the shadows born from it aren't the only danger to the creators—from the bestselling author of Curse of the Wolf King .
From the art of liars, the monsters came…
Ever since art gave life to bloodthirsty shadows, creative works have been forbidden and the talented creators sacrificed to the Sinless—the immortal royals who feast on human blood in return for their protection.
Inana’s secret storytelling nearly got her killed once, and she’ll be damned if she’s ever caught again. With a bounty on her head, she keeps to the city’s dark underbelly where she earns a meager living from thrill-seeking patrons desperate to hear her illicit fiction. Until Dominic, a Shadowbane, catches one of her performances. . .
Dominic is a half-Sinless monster hunter as fearsome as his prey. But to complete his hunt, he needs an artist to summon the shadows . . . he needs Inana. Dominic delivers an ultimatum: serve him or he’ll claim her bounty. When survival is all Inana has left, the choice is clear. At least until she can betray him and leave him for dead.
As their tense alliance leads them into the heart of danger, dark secrets unravel—about each other, their world, and the threats they face. But the greatest risk of all is the desire growing between them. There’s something more sinful than lust at play, and it could bring the world to its knees.
I'm still trying to make my way through most of Tessonja's backlist but I am super excited for this one! She's even coming to my city on tour, so I will FINALLY get to meet her!
TITLE: The Lies That Summon the Night
AUTHOR: Tessonja Odette
PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: February 17, 2026
DANGER, DESIRE, AND KINGDOMS ON THE BRINK OF WAR.
Enter a world of secrets, betrayal, and high-stakes action in this sizzling, slow burn romantasy from USA Today bestselling author Amanda Bouchet.
A woman searching for answers.
Idallia has been serving in the Dragon King’s Elite Wing of dragon shifters for nearly two hundred years. She doesn’t have fire or flight of her own, but she’s a phoenix rider with enough speed and skill to make her enemies think twice about tangling with her or her warbirds.
Centuries of life without knowing who or what you are is complicated enough without harboring a growing secret attraction, but the more time Idallia spends with Bale Cinderheart, the harder it is to stay away from the fiercely protective Dragon King. Dominant, intense…and the one man with the power to ruin everything.
A king safeguarding his treasures.
Bale has centuries of ruling under his scales and more responsibilities than he has fangs. His greatest triumph is his Elite Wing and their warbirds, but his biggest fear is losing them. Especially Idallia. She’s his forbidden desire and the one person he can’t seem to let go of—even for his own good.
While the man in him guards his heart as relentlessly as the dragon in him guards his kingdom, he's also the keeper of the answers Idallia has been seeking her whole life. Revealing the truth now could cost him everything—his home, his crown, his heart…
The threat of war looms as magic fades from the world of Ellonrift. Will the Dragon King preserve the fragile peace between the kingdoms? Or burn it all down, for her…
Loved Amanda's previous series...which I still need to read those last two spinoffs from the main trilogy. So I was excited to learn she was writing a new one and self-publishing at that! Cannot wait to read it!
TITLE: The Light Under the Shadow Wing
AUTHOR: Amanda Bouchet
PUBLISHER: Self
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: February 23, 2026
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by Purple Princess of The Purple Booker.
Here are the rules:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.
"What a shame reality must color what was once a lovely fantasy.But I shouldn't dream of him anymore." p 74
TITLE: A Dream So Wicked
AUTHOR: Tessonja Odette
PUBLISHER: Crystal Moon Press
GENRE: Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2023
So since I'm not joining any challenges officially, I still have the habit of wanting to do a monthly wrap-up of all my book reviews and posts for the month! So I figure I'll just share them all anyway!
ARC Reads:
Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet (1/6/26)
The Girls Before by Kate Alice Marshall (2/24/26)--Review to come next month!
New Release Reads:
Roots of Darkness by Demi Winters (1/6/26)--I think this might have released originally as an e-novella as Goodreads had two dates, but since I read the physical copy I'm just calling it a new release to ease my brain! Lol.
TBR Reads:
The Road of Bones by Demi Winters (6/27/23)
Kingdom of Claw by Demi Winters (2/21/24)
A Taste of Poison by Tessonja Odette (8/10/22)
I read a total of 6 books last month! Not too shabby since 2 of them were 500+ and 2 others were 400+!
Other Posts:
2025 End of the Year Survey
2026 Challenge
17th Blogoversary
Last Week I Read:
Currently Reading:
