Books from the Backlog #177

 

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. This is a fun meme hosted by Carole's Random Life in Books!

When magic and war collide, a world hangs in the balance.

Beyond the edge of human sight, protected by dark forces that drive away the uninvited, lies a magical realm on the brink of war. As the fae of the once-powerful Clan Moraine fight to maintain a fragile peace, a traitor conspires to destroy them from within. Desperate times call for unlikely alliances.

A high prince carrying the weight of a kingdom and a young writer with special abilities.

A proud princess with dangerous secrets and a loyal soldier bent on revenge.

A fierce warrior with an impossible dream and a carefree seer who takes nothing seriously.

A not-so-human girl with unprecedented powers and a loyal warrior haunted by his past.

A stubborn guard brave enough to face the darkness and a broken prince trapped in nightmares.

Together, they will risk everything to stop the return of a long-forbidden magic that could tear their entire world apart. And along the way they might just find more than they ever hoped for: friendship, hope, and--most of all--love.

Step through the veil and into a quintet of magical romantic adventures.

Includes When Magic Sleeps, When Magic Dares, When Magic Burns, When Magic Falls, and When Magic Wakes.

I added Tera Lynn Childs' Darkly Fae to my TBR pile in October of 2017. I did have some of this series as individual books that I believe I got as freebie reads. This could've come from her newsletter or as a kindle deal. I really can't remember at this point but needless to say I've the whole series at the ready for a binge read one day!

Can't Wait Wednesday #239

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

A vacation in paradise turns deadly when four teens' sailing charter hits stormy seas in this propulsive new thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Megan Lally!

Hannah is having an incredible spring break. A week at a resort in Mexico with her best friend Emmy and her family is perfect for de-stressing from senior year, even if it’s awkward being around Emmy's older brother, Jackson, who she’s had a crush on for as long as she can remember.

Still, the beach is gorgeous. So is the guy they meet in the surf. Except Hannah is now the third wheel in Emmy’s vacation romance.

Eager to impress Emmy, her wealthy new boyfriend charters a private sailboat to make the most of their last day in paradise, and Hannah and Jackson are invited along. As the clouds roll in and the skies darken, their boat is the only one leaving the marina. And the further they get into open water, the more unsettled Hannah becomes. A storm is brewing onboard that’s as deadly as the one racing toward them. Forget surviving graduation. Who will make it back to land alive?

So excited for this one! I'm really enjoying Lally's thrillers so far!

TITLE: What We Did to Survive
AUTHOR: Megan Lally
PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Fire
GENRE: YA Thriller
RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2026

She can hop into any novel, she just can’t stay there. Come along with the book witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game.

Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes. 

Book witches live by a strict Real people belong in the real word; fictional characters belong in works of fiction…. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

I mean how can any reader see that title and not want to read it? Then that first line?! I was sold by that alone! I don't think I even read past that one before putting it on my list! Lol.

TITLE: The Book Witch
AUTHOR: Meg Shaffer
PUBLISHER: Ballantine Books
GENRE: Fantasy Romance
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026

Neither amnesia nor the brothers trying to steer her fate will stop Amber Fallbrook from uncovering the truth about herself, the Alchemary, and the legend of the Philosopher’s Stone.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent (Soul Screamers, The Shifters) pens a dark paranormal romantasy centered on alchemy magic—and those who dare harness it.

Naked, knowing little more than her name, Amber Fallbrook does not recognize the stone tower she’s awoken in, or the vast, glittering ocean outside the window. Turning, she finds a very a different view: the beautiful, nearly naked man in the narrow bed is a stranger. So is the man who barges into the room unannounced, clearly expecting to find Amber alone.

Who are they? Who is she? Why can’t she remember?

Shocked to discover that she’s in her dormitory room at the Alchemary—the realm’s prestigious university dedicated to the study of alchemy—Amber has no recollection of having been one of the school’s top students for the past two years. The two men—brothers—are her childhood friends, even if “friends” is not the exact energy in the room.

One brother claims to want to protect her, and the other to help her recover her memory, but Amber soon realizes that nothing is at it seems at the Alchemary. Not the intentions of her classmates and faculty, not the stunning, labyrinthian campus, not the two brothers she’s increasingly attracted to—maybe not even herself.

Despite her memory loss, Amber rejoins her classes and prepares for the deadly Alchemary Trials alongside the other Mastery-level students. But as invigorating as the flowing language and symbology of alchemy is, she can’t help but notice that for an institution shining light on the quest for human perfection there are a lot of dark shadows in its winding corridors.

I AM SOOOO EXCITED that Rachel has a new book coming out! I might still have some of hers on my TBR pile (at the time I write this I do, but hoping to have knocked out one or two by now!). But still always excited for new words by her!

TITLE: The Alchemary
AUTHOR: Rachel Vincent
PUBLISHER: Hyperion Avenue
GENRE: Dark Paranormal Romantasy
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2026

Review--Living Dead Girl by Rachel Vincent

 

In a return to her urban fantasy roots, author Rachel Vincent introduces a world full of action, humor, and passion, in which one heavily armed and acerbic woman must ultimately choose between herself, her love, and the fate of the entire world…

Alexandra Walker is bitter, bored, foul-mouthed, and much older than she looks. A self-styled “retrieval specialist,” she is at your disposal to reclaim whatever—or whoever—you’ve lost, and while her methods are rough around the edges, her reputation is unrivaled. Which is why an arrogant, powerful new client (species: unknown) is offering her something much more valuable than money.

A plane went down with his cargo on board, yet neither the cargo nor the copilot were found in the wreckage. Locating them seems simple enough until Lex finds herself fighting off assassins from all angles—and of all species. With a capricious hellhound at her side and some super-hot competition on her heels, it doesn’t take her long to realize that completing this mission could have dire consequences. For all of humanity.

Living Dead Girl was in fact Rachel Vincent returning to her Urban Fantasy roots and I was ALL for it! I discovered Rachel through my love of the Urban Fantasy genre and this book hit all the right points and brought back a feeling of coming home! This was edgy, action-packed, plot-driven, filled with a snarky heroine and had paranormal qualities to boot! It was an utter delight!

We meet Lex as she's in the middle of a job. She has a knack for retrieving "things" that go missing or are taken. She's well-versed in the paranormal world so when she's set to rescue a teenage girl who was taken by goblins, she's knows what she's getting into. However, she was not expecting interference from the victim's brother nor was she expecting to gain the favor of a hellhound.

But Lex is quick to put the case behind her once she collects her fee and is soon given another job, one she cannot refuse, almost literally. The billionaire CEO, Troy Devich, offers to tell her the answer to her secret abilities. For Lex has known for over 200 years that she died and while most spirits move on afterwards, she somehow got stuck. She's still human, alive, and cannot really be killed. It's handy but then does make some life skills difficult such as residency.

The job should be simple, find a missing stone chest that vanished midflight on its way back to Devich and he will tell her what she wishes to know. But naturally, the job is anything but easy.

This was quite the adventure! I miss being in a world where there are paranormal beings walking among us in the shadows or not quite shadows. Lex herself is a bit of a mystery and while the story moves on, we get some details about her situation, but the true answer of why is she still here, never aging year after year after century remains unclear. Hence her drive to see this job through. 

In true, Urban Fantasy fashion though, and perhaps a little bit of Rachel fashion, we do get a love interest for our snarky lovable heroine. He's the perfect match against all her snark and rough edges and I would love to see more interactions between them!

The pacing is a quick setting and while the beginning chapters felt a little disorienting at first, they make sense once the story moves along and they serve a greater purpose then we realize at that early stage. Everything happens for a reason. I was eating up these pages as the plot intensified and I was eager to make it to what was sure to be an earth-shattering conclusion and it was very much that in spades!

Having read this book three years after its release, it remains unclear if this is it or if Rachel will return to this world or not. While things are left pretty open-ended at the end of this one, the main plot thread was resolved to a point. There are a few loose-ends as one is sure to find in almost any first book in a possible series runner. Since this was a self-published series there is always hope that Rachel might return to it one day. Time will only tell. I follow the author on social media so I know she took a bit of a break from writing for awhile and is now returning to it once more and has a new series releasing next month. Whether she returns to this one will have to remain a mystery for awhile. 

Yes, there's something like a cliffhanger in this one. Things that would set the course for the next book. I suppose, should that never happen we can always imagine how things would turn out big picture wise! But all in all, it was the kind of ending I was anticipating so I can't say I was too surprised. I just hope that somewhere down the line we can have at least one more book to possibly wrap things up!

If you've been itching to return to Urban Fantasy, be sure to check Living Dead Girl out! It's got all the classic vibes of the genre and can keep fans of it entertain from start to finish!

Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

 

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.

"'He's the Gatekeeper.'

Silence reigned for a moment. Then I shattered it with an outburst of laughter, images of proton packs and ectoplasm flashing through my memory. 'Are you the keymaster?'

Devich frowned, and my smiled faded. I tossed back the rest of my whiskey. I could not trust someone who didn't even know he was quoting Ghostbusters." p 67

TITLE: Living Dead Girl
AUTHOR: Rachel Vincent
PUBLISHER: Urban Quill
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: December 19, 2022

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: Top Ten Book Titles Featuring Ordinal Numbers (submitted by Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog)

*in no particular order
**super, super tricky! I forgot how long it took me to compose 10 titles for this one! Very long! Lol.

1. ONCE BITTEN by Kalayna Price--the first book in the Haven series which was sadly never completed. I mourn its loss every day as it was one of the first books I ever received a review copy of and was SO excited as I kept reading it.
2. TWICE TEMPTED by Jeaniene Frost--the second book in the Night Prince series featuring one of many favorite Frost vampires!
3. THREE STRIKES by Kate Kessler--the third in the Audrey Harte series which I sadly still need to start, but I got all the books at least!

4. FOUR by Veronica Roth--the fourth installment of the Divergent series...yes, it was a novella collection, but it was aptly titled and it did release AFTER the third book!
5. FIRST by Alyssa Rose Ivy--this was a prequel novella to The Crescent Chronicles that was released after the third book, but it backtracked to the beginning of the series, to before the beginning. It happened first! Get it? Lol. Stretching on this one but this topic was hard!
6. ONE DARK WINDOW by Rachel Gillig--the first book in The Shepherd King duology.

7. TWO FEET UNDER by C.C. Hunter--the second book in The Mortician's Daughter trilogy, and one I still need to finish!
8. EIGHTH GRAVE AFTER DARK by Darynda Jones--the eighth book in the Charley Davidson series!
9. THIRTEEN by Kelley Armstrong--the thirteenth book of the Women of the Otherworld series!

10. SECONDHAND LUCK by Kim Harrison--The second book of The Shadow Age series. Literally thought of this one at the last second as my last choice did not really fit the theme and I was trying to do better, lol!

Disney Princess Book Tag

 

So I saw this tag on Instagram last week @NurseKendraReads and I thought it looked like fun because Disney AND books! She followed the prompts from @DreamerWithABook and @Booksta.Graham, so since I followed her post, I will be following her used prompts! I also borrowed this lovely image you see above from her because it's beautiful and I have no tech skill!

SNOW WHITE
seven books on my TBR pile

In my sort of immediate queue I have in no particular order:

MOANA
a character who goes on a self discovery journey

I guess you can say Allison went on a journey of self discovery when she wakes up as a vampire and must adjust to a new lifestyle!

CINDERELLA
a book you read past midnight

Okay, I honestly can't remember the last book that kept me up late at night. But this one was definitely  a fun and spooky one to read late into the night if you like a good scare!

ARIEL
a fictional world you wish you could be a part of

The Magnificent North for sure! Such a magical place, I would love to visit it! I'd take any Stephanie Garber world though! Lol.

AURORA
a book so good it put you in a reading slump

I honestly don't get into reading slumps! I've too many wonderful books on my TBR pile that I want to read. So I bask in the glory of whatever I'm reading, review it and then move onto the next adventure! I guess you can say Legendary was hard to move past, especially after that ending! Lol.

JASMINE
a confident and bold FMC who inspires you

Yeah, I didn't plan that right! Lol. Tella is my girl! I love how bold, feisty, and brave she is!

BELLE
a book that feels like a love letter to reading

I LOVED Obsidian! Katy is a book blogger and omg this is still my favorite ode to reading, to books, to blogging and just the excitement of books! Yes, it plays a minor part in the books and gets smaller as the series went on, but it was still wonderful to see!

RAPUNZEL
a book that made you step out of your comfort zone

Finlay Donovan is Killing It is definitely one of those books I likely would have never picked up if I hadn't read Cosimano's YA books and loved them! I figured since this was a mystery with an amateur sleuth who wasn't even trying to be a sleuth and was just trying to write her book before her deadline, it sounded like a fun time and it has been!

TIANA
a long series that felt ambitious and fulfilling to read

Kim Harrison's The Hollows series! It started at 13 books, I started reading it around the third or fourth book maybe? Or right at the third book releasing. It came to an end at 13 books, but then in 2020, six years after what was once the last book, Kim returned to the series and it's still going as far as I know! Lol. Haven't heard what this year's title is, but last year's was #18 of the series! Pretty much all other series I've read that closed out always ended at 13...really weird, but there you go! Lol.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

East of Envy by Nikki St. Crowe (ARC)--Review to come at a later date

Currently Reading:

Living Dead Girl by Rachel Vincent

What I Plan to Read Next:

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser

Other Posts of Interest:

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays
Random Thought: Author Series
Can't Wait Wednesday #238

Books from the Backlog #176
Book Blogger Hop #401
Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves

 

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, and of course ebooks! The meme is now hosted by Reading Reality.

Can I just say how much I HATE daylight savings time? Every year we lose an hour of sleep and it takes me way too long to acclimate and get back on track with my sleep! It's AWFUL! Everyone else apparently loves it because they are happy the sun stays out til like 8 o'clock at night and I hate that too! And now sunrise isn't until like 8am because we're changing the clocks too soon. I just wish we could be done with it. I don't want to move my clock forward. I want to leave it at standard normal time and stop this clock moving nonsense. It makes no sense. Yes, in fall, it's dark around 5pm, but now it's dark at 7am because sunrise isn't until later in the hour. It puts me in bad mood. People talk about their seasonal depression in winter, well mine pretty much starts right about now and doesn't let up until the clocks move back. So if I am grumpy anytime starting now...this is why! Lol. It's either grumpiness or sadness pretty much at this point with occasional bouts of happiness, but yeah the bright sun shining at 8pm doesn't really put me in a good mood when I am trying to get to sleep and get up early in the morning. Closed blonds and curtains only go so far. Adulthood sucks. Lol.

But anyway, this wasn't too bad of a week for books. I enjoyed my last week of normal time before losing that hour. I was trying to psych myself up for it, while also enjoying this last normal week, but yeah. It hits really hard and fast and doesn't like to let up. Ugh. I hate DST! Back to books!! Sorry, this seriously does get me in an unhappy mood and you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but it still sucks. lol.

Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen
Midnight on the Celestial by Julia Alexandra
Summoned to the Wilds by A.K. Caggiano
To Cage a Wil Bird by Brooke Fast
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser--this was my Book of the Month choice! I chose this one since I had a credit still and this was one I was curious about so I went for it!

Then FINALLY I received my Fairy Loot copy of Silver Elite! Omg, this thing shipped over a month ago and tracking never updated and then one day this week it was just there!

Silver Elite by Dani Francis--Fairy Loot edition

And then I got my bookmark unscathed from Amazon in the last order I created when I needed to get my total up there for shipping!

It says: Books are the seeds, your imagination is the garden.

It sounded like a nice quote and I was $2 off from shipping, so into the cart it went! Lol.

And that was my haul this week! What all did you get?